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THE AFTERMATH OF THE 
CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 



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THE AFTERMATH OF THE 
CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 



BY 



POWELL CLAYTON 

Governor of Arkansas, 1868 to 1'871 




NEW YORK 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1915 



>A\\ 



Copyright, 1915, by 
POWELL CLAYTON 



TO MY DEAR FRIEND 

aaictarii C. Kerens! 

IN TESTIMONY OF OUR FIRM FRIENDSHIP WHICH HAS 
REMAINED UNBROKEN FOR FORTY YEARS 



II. 
III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 
X. 

XI. 
XII. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Foreword ....... 

Inauguration of the State Government of 
1868 

The Murphy Government .... 

My First Message to the General Assembly, 
Delivered July 3, 1868 .... 

Registration ...... 

Organization and Operations of Ku Klux 
Klan in Arkansas ..... 

Martial Law and Operations Thereunder 
of State Militia ..... 106 

Martial Law in the Counties of Crittenden 
AND Conway Not Permanently Effective 175 

Peace and Prosperity Produced by Martial 
Law ........ 195 



PAGE 

9 



13 
17 

38 
50 

56 



Immigration 

Education . 

State Aid to Railroads 

Funding the State Debt 
7 



207 
220 
237 
251 



I CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIII. William M. Fishback, or Democratic Per- 

versions OF History ..... 282 

XIV. My October Speech . . . . .312 
XV. The Impeachment . . . . -319 

XVI. My Senatorial Investigation . . . 329 

XVII. Democratic Accession to Power and the 

Use Made of It . . . . .351 

Index ........ 371 



FOREWORD 

For over thirty years I have contemplated writing a 
history of Reconstruction in Arkansas. Having relin- 
quished all political and business activities, I have, in my 
eighty-second year, completed this volume of memoirs. 

My work gives an account of my administration as 
Governor; also of those events that commenced before 
and entered into it, and those that occurred during that 
period and continued beyond it. It closes with a brief 
comparison between my administration and that of the 
opposition, which followed. 

I am not regardless of the fact that I have outlived 
the most of those to whom I have referred in these mem- 
oirs and that the criticism may be made that I have waited 
until their death to make charges that they can no longer 
answer. I beg that the reader will keep constantly in 
mind that I am writing of the official acts of my contem- 
poraries and not of their personal characters. 

In view of my well-known Republican proclivities, ex- 
tending over a period of forty-seven years, I have been 
fully aware of the necessity of substantiating every con- 
trovertible and important assertion. In preparing this 
work for the public I have gathered an immense amount 
of documentary evidence, from which I have selected the 
most appropriate for that purpose, and have embodied it 
either in whole or in part, or have cited the reader to 
where it can be found. Unless otherwise stated, all doc- 

9 



10 FOREWORD 

uments quoted or referred to are on file in the Library of 
Congress, Washington, D. C. 

Throughout this history I have quoted freely from the 
"Arkansas Gazette," the organ of the Democratic Party. 
The reader must not confound the "Arkansas Gazette" 
of today with the "Gazette" of the period covered by this 
work. Then it was private property and one of its pro- 
prietors was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan at 
Little Rock, Ark. The "Arkansas Gazette" was then the 
owner of the Associated Press franchise for Arkansas and 
through that agency it scattered at home and abroad its 
false representations. Now it is owned by a corporation 
and is entirely different except as to name, and in my judg- 
ment it is at present one of the best newspapers west of 
the Mississippi River. 

The reader will naturally ask why I should have had 
recourse to such an agency for information. The fol- 
lowing are my reasons: first, the accessibility of its files in 
the Congressional Library, which cover the paper's entire 
publication from its estabhshment in 1819, at Arkansas 
Post, down to the present time. Second, it enabled me to 
fix the chronology of events. Third, as a reflex of the 
political conditions, animosities, and prejudices then ex- 
isting. Fourth, to show the "Gazette's" duplicity in deny- 
ing the existence of the Ku Klux organization, and its con- 
stant attempts to shift the burden of Ku Klux atrocities to 
the shoulders of the Republican Party. 

Strange as it may seem, I shall frequently use it as my 
witness to the good effects resulting from some of my 
most important policies — policies which it had previously 
denounced as ruinous. 

To Miss Flossie V. Alexander, my Secretary, I wish 
here to offer my heartfelt thanks for her assistance in the 
preparation of this book. With untiring zeal and with 
rare intelligence she has helped me in every possible way. 



FOREWORD II 

No terms of appreciation that I could employ would be 
too strong in which to express my obligation to her. 

I desire here to express to my many friends in Ar- 
kansas and elsewhere my appreciation of their unfailing 
kindness in assisting me to obtain information for use in 
my book. I have found them ever ready to aid me, and 
T sincerely regret that I cannot mention them by name. 

P. C. 

Washington, D. C. 
August, 19 14. 



THE AFTERMATH OF THE 
CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 

CHAPTER I 

INAUGURATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF 1 868 

On the second day of July, 1868, in the Old State 
House grounds at Little Rock, Ark., was gathered a 
large but incongruous assembly. The seats especially 
provided in front of the Speaker's stand were occupied 
by ladies, who, with their multi-colored dresses and 
vibrant fans, gave dignity and animation. to the scene. 
There was also present a large representation of the 
Unconditional Union men who had furnished to the 
Federal Army in Arkansas over ten thousand soldiers. 

The newcomers, — composed almost entirely of ex- 
Union officers and soldiers who had been impressed dur- 
ing their period of service with the genial climate and 
great natural resources of Arkansas and who when 
mustered out of the service had consequently adopted 
that State as their home, — were well and actively repre- 
sented. 

Standing in groups under the shade of the old oaks 
were gathered members of the ante-bellum regime, — 
men whose contemptuous facial expressions indicated 
that they were present not as participants in the cere- 
monies about to take place, but for the purpose of noting 
them, probably with a view to reporting and discussing 
them that night in their secret conclaves. 

13 



14 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

On the outskirts of the crowd stood, in respectful 
silence, a large number of the lately enfranchised negroes, 
who fairly pinched themselves to make sure that they 
were not dreaming, so great and sudden had been the 
change from slavery to American citizenship. 

About lo A. M. along the Main street leading to 
the Capitol an open carriage with a military escort 
approached. The back seat was occupied by two men, — 
the one on the right being about sixty-five years old; the 
other, about thirty-five. The elder, clad in the home- 
spun garb of the mountaineer, noted the more fashion- 
able attire of the younger man and said: "Why do 
you wear gloves in July? Only dudes wear gloves in 
summertime." The younger man took no offense, but 
quickly replied: "Governor, it is not the garb that makes 
the man, yet in deference to your opinion, and especially 
in view of the character of the work I am about to enter 
upon to-day, which will doubtless require 'handling with- 
out gloves,' I now remove mine." Both men cordially 
grasped hands, the elder remarking: "I appreciate the 
magnitude of the work you are about to undertake. May 
God help youl" 

The carriage soon arrived at the gates of the State 
House grounds, where it was met by a deputation of 
citizens, who escorted the occupants to the platform where 
the Inaugural Ceremonies were to take place. 

The elder of these two men was Isaac Murphy, then 
the Provisional Governor of Arkansas; the younger was 
the writer of this History, and the occasion, his inaugura- 
tion as the first Governor of Arkansas under the Recon- 
struction Measures of Congress. 

The form of the official ceremonies that followed 
was, on a small scale, similar to the one that is gener- 
ally used in Presidential inaugurations. I omit here my 
inaugural address, its main features being embodied in 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 15 

my message to the Legislature, which was delivered the 
next day. 

Upon the termination of the inaugural ceremonies, and 
at the suggestion of ex-Governor Murphy, we repaired 
to the State House, where we first visited the executive 
chambers. Upon entering the executive office I saw be- 
fore me, placed against the opposite wall, a long table 
with three convenient drawers and on the table a case 
of open pigeonholes. There was no carpet on the floor, 
and the rest of the furniture consisted of about two dozen 
homemade, split-bottomed chairs. On the other side of 
the room, over the fireplace, was a print of George 
Washington, — the only picture on the walls. From this 
room we entered a small anteroom, which contained no 
furniture nor other movable objects, except a barrel stand- 
ing on end In the middle of the room. This barrel was 
apparently filled with straw. From It ex-Governor Mur- 
phy fished out a gallon stone jug, removed the cork, and 
politely presented the jug to me. After proposing his 
good health and future prosperity "at the word of 
mouth," I partook of its contents. It was the real 
"mountain-dew," as the Governor had characterized it. 
He now closed his hospitalities by a similar potation and 
with words kindly expressive of his good wishes. We 
then made the rounds of the building, visiting such pro- 
visional officers as had not yet vacated their posts. 

On our way Governor Murphy pointed out to me the 
exact spot where had occurred a tragedy that was per- 
haps unexampled in its horrible details in the whole his- 
tory of legislative proceedings In America. 

In the year 1837 the House was in session, with John 
Wilson, Speaker, In the Chair. J. J. Anthony, the mem- 
ber from Randolph County, had the floor and was ad- 
dressing the House. The proposition under consider- 
ation was that upon the delivery of wolves' scalps to 



i6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Justices of the Peace certificates indorsed by them should 
be receivable in payment of county taxes. Anthony sar- 
castically suggested that such certificates should be coun- 
tersigned by the President of the Real Estate Bank, who 
was the same John Wilson then occupying the Chair. 
To these remarks the Speaker took offense and ordered 
Anthony to take his seat, which Anthony refused to do; 
whereupon the Speaker, without invoking the authority 
of the Sergeant-at-Arms, left the Chair, saying, "Then 
I will make you." As he descended from the Speaker's 
stand he drew his bowie-knife and advanced down 
the aisle to where Anthony was standing behind his 
desk. Anthony drew his knife and a struggle en- 
sued. Grandison D. Royston, who occupied a seat ad- 
jacent to Anthony's, thrust a chair between the com- 
batants. In the scuffle Anthony dropped his knife, 
whereupon Wilson with his left hand raised the chair, 
and stooping down to make his aim sure, thrust his 
bowie-knife into the vitals of Anthony, who exclaimed 
as he fell, "I am a dead man." He instantly expired 
In a pool of his own blood. Wilson was promptly In- 
dicted by the Grand Jury for murder In the first degree, 
but upon a change of venue to Saline County, at that 
time sparsely settled by a very ignorant class of people, 
he was acquitted on the ground of excusable homicide. 

I cannot close this chapter without paying a just 
tribute to Governor Isaac Murphy. He was a diamond 
In the rough, but the very personification of honesty and 
loyalty to his country. May his name live in History as 
long as the annals of Arkansas exist. 

I shall simply add that on the day of my Inauguration, 
on my taking the oath of office, the "Ship of State" was 
launched on what afterwards proved to be a most tem- 
pestuous sea. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 17 



CHAPTER II 

THE MURPHY GOVERNMENT 

At the very outset of my administration I was con- 
fronted with the contentions of the Democratic Party. 
It claimed that the government created under the Recon- 
struction Acts of Congress, according to the views ex- 
pressed by the Democratic National Convention, was 
"unconstitutional, revolutionary and void," and that the 
Legislature which the Reconstruction Measures under the 
existing conditions had characterized as "provisional" 
was "in no sense provisional, but the Legislature of the 
State of Arkansas, created and elected according to the 
forms of law and the Constitution." 

That the reader may understand the basis of these 
insurrectionary and anarchistic contentions, I shall now 
give a history of the closing period of the war in Arkansas 
and the origin and attempted usurpations of what was 
known as the Murphy Government. During its forma- 
tive processes it was characterized by the Secessionists as 
"bastard and bogus." The Confederates in the field 
were given orders to suppress it and its meetings as far 
as possible ; but later, when by the devious devices here- 
after described, it came under the control of the Seces- 
sionists, or Democrats, they assumed for it all the powers 
of an equal and coordinate State of the American Union. 

1863 was a prosperous year for the Federal cause 
in Arkansas. Its successes at Arkansas Post, Helena, 
Little Rock and Pine Bluff were complete. The reverses 
were few and of small importance. 



1 8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

From these favorable conditions resulted the follow- 
ing Federal military dispositions: the Arkansas River 
became the military base, with the main body of the army 
and its headquarters at Little Rock, the Capital and the 
geographical centre of the State, — a strategic position of 
great military importance. This base was strengthened 
by auxiliary posts at Ft. Smith, Van Buren, Dardanelle, 
Lewisburg and Pine Bluff; and in the rear, to protect 
its communications and the territory recovered from the 
Confederacy, posts were established at De Vails Bluff, 
Helena, Batesville, and Fayetteville. 

These dispositions practically dominated the rich val- 
ley of the Arkansas and all of the State Territory to the 
southward. The hitherto hounded and harassed Union 
men of the State, with new hope and courage, now came 
from their hiding places and flocked by thousands to the 
Federal posts, where, to a great extent, they entered the 
Federal volunteer service. 

Desertions from the Confederate army by Union men 
forced into the Confederate service by conscription now 
became frequent. To a large extent they too enlisted in 
the Union army. 

Adjt.-Gen. A. W. Bishop in his report of 1863, 
printed by authority of the United States Senate, fixed 
the whole number of white officers and enlisted men 
belonging exclusively to Arkansas organizations at 8,789. 
If we add to these figures the number of Arkansas men 
who joined Northern regiments serving in Missouri and 
Arkansas, the whole number would certainly exceed 
10,000. 

Under these conditions, on the 24th of October, 1863, 
twelve self-constituted Union men, from the contiguous 
counties of Sebastian and Crawford, met in conference 
at Ft. Smith and issued a call to the Union men of 
their counties advising them to assemble in mass meet- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 19 

ings at their respective County seats (Ft. Smith and Van 
Buren) for the purpose of inaugurating a movement 
for the formation of a loyal State government in Ar- 
kansas. Meetings were held and resolutions adopted, 
calling upon the loyal people of the several counties of 
the State to hold conventions and select delegates to a 
State constitutional convention, to assemble in Little 
Rock, January 4, 1864. Information, especially docu- 
mentary, as to the extent and manner of response to 
this call is meagre. 

All of the Federal military posts were located at 
County seats, places of refuge for the Unionists and of 
safety for the holding of such meetings. Unless the meet- 
ings at Ft. Smith and Van Buren to which I have referred 
selected delegates, I know of but one other that did. 
In William M. Fishback's newspaper, The Unconditional 
Union, of January 23, 1864, is an account of a meet- 
ing held January 2 in the Episcopal Church at Helena, 
presided over by Federal Brigadier-General Buford, at 
which delegates for Phillips County were chosen. 

From the able article by Prof, John Hughes Rey- 
nolds, styled "Presidential Reconstruction in Arkansas," 
Vol. I, Publications of the Arkansas Historical Asso- 
ciation, I quote as follows: "If conventions were held, 
many of them could not have been more than quiet, 
informal, irregular gatherings of loyal men in the sev- 
eral counties. ... In some cases the delegates were self- 
appointed; others were selected by home caucuses; and 
in a few cases citizens of different counties, residing in 
Little Rock for protection, got together and selected one 
or more of their number."^ While the title of this 
article is misleading, there being no such thing as "Presi- 
dential Reconstruction," the quotation I have used cor- 
rectly describes the methods pursued in the selection of 
delegates. 



20 , THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

In this irregular manner a comparatively small num- 
ber of delegates was chosen, — a few of whom assembled 
at Little Rock on the 4th day of January, 1864, the 
day fixed for the meeting of the Convention, and effected 
a temporary organization. 

I now present a brief account of the subsequent pro- 
ceedings of the Convention, as gleaned from its journal.^ 

January 6 a Committee on Credentials was appointed. 

January 8 the Committee on Credentials reported 
twenty-six delegates, from eleven counties, entitled to 
seats. 

January 9, on report of the Committee on Creden- 
tials, four delegates from Pulaski County were seated. 
Why the delegates from the county where the Conven- 
tion was held did not participate in the first day's pro- 
ceedings, and, in the absence of any contest, did not take 
their seats until five days thereafter, I can only account 
for upon the theory that they were chosen after the 
Convention assembled. 

January 11 the Committee on Credentials reported 
as follows: "We have received applications from in- 
dividuals from counties unrepresented, and in which no 
elections were held, desiring to be reported as members 
of this Convention. The Committee have considered 
these applications for several days and have finally de- 
cided to report no persons as entitled to seats without 
certificates of election emanating from the authority of 
the people." 

Two days thereafter the same Committee recom- 
mended the seating of three citizens of Jefferson County, 
in support of which the Committee said: "After due 
deliberation, we agree to recede from so much of our 
former practice as required the delegates to furnish a 
certificate of election and we further agree to admit them 
(the three citizens) to seats with us." Altogether there 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 21 

were eleven delegates so seated, one of whom, William 
Cox of Drew County, is recorded as having voted for 
the adoption of the Constitution on January 19, whereas 
he was not admitted to a seat in the Convention until 
two days thereafter. 

During the first nine daily sessions, in addition to 
the proceedings already mentioned, committees on rules 
and for the drafting of a constitution and ordinances 
were appointed and a permanent organization effected. 
Rules were adopted and other important business trans- 
acted without any roll-call. Hence I am unable to state 
the number of delegates who participated in these pro- 
ceedings. 

The largest number of delegates present at any ses- 
sion was forty-five. The largest number of counties 
represented in whole or in part was twenty-three. The 
entire number of counties in the State was fifty-five. 

Geographically, the State of Arkansas consists of two 
nearly equal and compact sub-divisions, — Highlands and 
Lowlands. The Highlands, — exclusive of the Arkansas 
Valley, — were not adapted to the culture of cotton by 
slave labor, and to a major extent were inhabited by 
the non-slaveholding class, who, having no interest in 
slavery, naturally refused to fight its battles. Hence the 
strong Union sentiment which existed there. 

In the Lowlands at the commencement of the war 
were located the cotton-producing and slave-holding inter- 
ests. Possessed of wealth and educational advantages, 
firmly united by a community of interests, the slave- 
holding class there effectually controlled the ignorant 
and, in most cases, wretchedly poor, non-slaveholding 
people. 

The small Union sentiment which may have existed 
among the non-slaveholding class was largely dispelled 
by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and 



22 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

by the enlistment Into the Union army of negro soldiers. 
The fixed policy of the slaveholders was to keep this class 
in a continuous state of Illiteracy, hence the failure of 
the State to provide free schools, a subject that I shall 
treat more fully further on. 

I return to the consideration of the composition of 
the Convention. From the Highlands there were twenty- 
five delegates representing either In whole or In part 
twelve counties, with an aggregate white population of 
about 76,000. In this region there were sixteen coun- 
ties, with an aggregate white population nearly equal 
to that of one-third of the entire State, wholly unrepre- 
sented. 

From the Lowlands there were twenty-four delegates, 
representing either In whole or In part eleven counties, 
with an aggregate white population of 68,000. There 
were sixteen unrepresented counties In that region with 
an aggregate white population of about 66,000. The 
white population of the Highlands exceeded that of the 
Lowlands by about 40,000. 

The Highland county of Washington, the most pop- 
ulous In the State (and with the largest Union senti- 
ment), with FayettevIUe, Its county seat, garrisoned by 
Arkansas Federal troops, had no delegates In the Con- 
vention. On the other hand, the Lowland county of 
Clark had four delegates, though it had only about half 
the population of Washington county and a very insig- 
nificant Union sentiment, and Its county seat of Arkadel- 
phla (according to Professor Reynolds "the manufac- 
turing centre of the Confederacy") was garrisoned by 
Confederate troops. 

The Highland county of Independence, the next most 
populous county in the State, containing an unusually 
large Union sentiment, with a garrison of Federal troops 
at Batesville, its county seat, had but one delegate, who 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 23 

was admitted without credentials, and who served only 
five days; while the Lowland county of Saline, with less 
than one-half of the population of Independence, and a 
very small Union sentiment, had four delegates. These 
two contiguous Lowland counties, Clark and Saline, had 
altogether during the sittings of the Convention, as 
shown by its journal, eight delegates, — about one-sixth of 
the entire body, or one delegate for every 1,676 white 
Inhabitants. Upon this basis Washington and Independ- 
ence counties together would have been entitled to six- 
teen delegates and the whole State to about one hundred 
and ninety. 

The journal shows that of the twenty-four delegates 
from the Lowlands ten were admitted without creden- 
tials, while a number of others were seated from counties 
within the Confederate lines, where public meetings for 
the selection of delegates could not possibly have been 
held. 

From the foregoing two pertinent questions arise: 
first, Why, considering the easy and secure methods of 
selecting delegates from the Highlands region, had It 
such a small representation In the Convention? second. 
Why, in view of the difficulties and dangers attending 
the selection of delegates from the Lowlands, the com- 
paratively small Union sentiment existing there and the 
fact that its population was about 40,000 less than that 
of the Highlands, were there such comparatively exces- 
sive delegations from that region? 

Having continuously served In Arkansas, as a com- 
mander of Federal troops, during the last three years of 
the war, and having had favorable opportunities for 
observing this movement throughout Its different stages, 
I know that the consensus of opinion at that time in 
army circles was that, with the exception of a few pro- 
moters whose eyes were doubtless turned to the vacant 



24 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Federal and State offices, the Union men of Arkansas 
took but little interest in the movement. 

A State constitutional convention under our system, 
as I understand it, is a parliamentary body of delegates, 
previously called, and its delegates apportioned by law- 
ful authority among the several counties, or other legal 
sub-divisions of a State, its delegates having first been 
chosen by lawfully qualified electors at elections provided 
for by law, conducted and returns made by election offi- 
cers duly and legally qualified. 

If this definition be correct, then the body we are 
considering did not possess a single one of these quali- 
fications. I know that it was asserted at one period with 
vehement insistence that President Lincoln legalized this 
movement. He did support the creation of a Provisional 
government, subservient and auxiliary to the then exist- 
ing military authority, but never a government of a 
sovereign and coordinate State of the Union. The fact is 
that contemporaneously with this movement — at least up 
to the time of the assembling of the Convention — he 
was devising a plan for the formation of a provisional 
government for Arkansas, unaware of the movement then 
in progress there. 

In a letter to Major-General Steele, dated Jan. 5, 
1864, he wrote :^ "I wish to afford the people of 
Arkansas an opportunity of taking the oath prescribed 
in the proclamation of December 8, 1863, preparatory 
to reorganizing a State government there." When this 
letter was written the Arkansas Convention was in session. 

On January 27 he wrote to Major-General Steele: 
"I have addressed a letter to you and put it in the hands 
of Mr. Gantt and other Arkansas gentlemen, contain- 
ing a program of an election in that State. This letter 
will be handed you by some of these gentlemen. Since 
writing it, I see that a Convention in Arkansas, having 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 25 

the same general object, has taken some action, which 
I am afraid may clash somewhat with my program. I 
therefore can do no better than ask you to see Mr. 
Gantt immediately on his return and with him do what 
you and he may deem necessary to harmonize the two 
plans into one, and then put it through with all possible 
vigor." 

February 6 he telegraphed Governor Murphy: "My 
order to Major-General Steele about an election was 
made in ignorance of the action your Convention had 
taken or would take. A subsequent letter directs Gen- 
eral Steele to aid you in your plans and not to thwart 
or hinder you. Show this to him." 

On February 15, in a telegram to Gen. J. M. Thayer, 
he used this language:* *'I, having acted in ignorance 
that the Convention would act, yield to the Convention, 
and have so notified General Steele, who is master, and 
is to cut any knots which cannot be untied." 

On February 17 he wrote to William M. Fishback: 
"I have sent two letters to General Steele, and three or 
four dispatches to you and others, saying that he. Gen- 
eral Steele, must be master, but that it will probably be 
best for him to merely help the Convention on its own 
plan. Some single mind must be master, else there will 
be no agreement in anything, and General Steele, com- 
manding the mihtary and being on the ground, is the best 
man to be that master. Even now the citizens are tele- 
graphing me to postpone the election to a later day than 
either that fixed by the Convention or by me. This dis- 
cord must be silenced." 

On January 29 he wrote to Major-General Steele: 
"I understand that Congress declines to admit to seats 
the persons sent as senators and representatives from 
Arkansas. These persons apprehend that, in conse- 
quence, you may not support the new State government 



26 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

there as you otherwise would. My wish is that you give 
that Government and the people there the same support 
that you would if the members had been admitted, be- 
cause, in no event nor in any view of the case, can this 
do any harm, while it may be the best you can do toward 
suppressing the rebellion." 

I regret the limited scope of my work does not per- 
mit a reproduction of all President Lincoln's orders to 
General Steele and his letters to others relative to the 
formation of the Murphy government. The foregoing 
quotations contain his most pertinent expressions concern- 
ing the questions we are considering, and, I think, clearly 
show that all he did in the premises was in his military 
capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the national forces. 

Certainly the formation of a government of a sover- 
eign and coordinate State of the Union, from its incep- 
tion to completion, is the work of civil authority. In 
that work the military can take no independent part. In 
it the military exercise of "mastership," with "power to 
cut knots which cannot be untied," would certainly be 
a gross usurpation, but not so under the then existing 
conditions in the formation of a provisional government, 
subservient and auxiliary to the military, to aid in the 
"suppression of the rebellion." 

In this connection I present some extracts from the 
speech of Senator Charles Sumner, delivered in the 
United States Senate on June 13, 1864, "On the Recog- 
nition of Arkansas." Among other things he said: "The 
present organization in Arkansas, seeking representation 
on this floor, is without that legality of origin required 
by the American system of Government." "A new Civil 
Government, to be recognized as a State of this Union, 
cannot be born of military power." 

Continuing, he said: "True it is that the President 
put forward a plan for reorganizing a loyal State Gov- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 27 

ernment in the Rebel territory, and he proffered a guar- 
antee to these communities against domestic violence and 
rebel invasion, but he neither proposed nor promised 
any representation in Congress or in the Electoral Col- 
lege." In the further course of his remarks he said: "It 
is plain, therefore, that the reorganization contemplated 
by the President was in its nature provisional." 

And again he said: "A handful of persons keeping 
their loyalty might justly look to the military power for 
support against a hostile majority. Such a handful might 
be allowed to set up a local Government for the manage- 
ment of local affairs, and to assist the National Govern- 
ment in the work of restoration." 

Further on he said: "Besides, the power of the 
President to institute this Government is only as Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Army. It is therefore miUtary 
in character. But what proceeds out of this is, from the 
nature of the case, provisional or temporary until it has 
received the sanction of Congress." 

Early in the war the President, in his military ca- 
pacity, had appointed a military governor for Arkansas 
and conferred upon him civil duties. Later he abrogated 
that action, and as late as February 5, 1864, announced 
to an Arkansas (loyal) delegation, "that he had deter- 
mined not to appoint a separate Military Governor, but 
to entrust General Steele, the newly appointed commander 
of the Department of Arkansas, with both military and 
civil adminstration of the State." 

Having described the origin, composition and char- 
acter of the Convention, we now come to its work. 

Misconceiving its powers, it adopted ordinances as 
follows : Prohibiting the bringing into the State of free 
or indentured negroes, annulling all laws that prohibited 
the education of any class, making it a felony to belong 
to a company of guerillas, jayhawkers, or bushwhackers; 



28 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

authorizing a loan of $150,000, and providing for the 
organization, by the Governor, of state militia. 

On January 20 it ordained a provisional State gov- 
ernment, consisting of the Governor, Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, and Secretary of State, and at the same session 
these offices were filled by the appointment of Isaac 
Murphy, C. C. Bhss, and Robert J. T. White. 

On January 22 the Convention adopted by an unani- 
mous vote the State constitution previously in force, with 
the following most important amendments: the annul- 
ment of the act of secession, the immediate abolition of 
slavery, and the complete repudiation of the Confeder- 
ate debt. 

It adopted a schedule providing for an election to 
be held March 14, 15, and 16, for the adoption or re- 
jection of the constitution and for the election of State 
and county officers, a State Legislature and "members 
of Congress in Districts No. i and 2, according to the 
act approved January 19, 1861." No election was 
ordered for District No. 3. The Convention recognized 
the election of Col. James M. Johnson as the represent- 
ative from that district. 

Notwithstanding the failure of the mass meeting 
method of selecting delegates, the Convention for the 
forthcoming election based its machinery on the same 
invalid and impracticable plan. 

At the risk of wearying my reader at the outset, I 
have, with perhaps too much particularity, described the 
formative processes which led to the installation of the 
so-called Murphy Government, but I believe it expedient 
that a complete history be given, as I shall soon describe 
the fierce and often bloody contentions over the question 
of the legitimacy of said Government and the power of 
Congress to provide for its displacement by that of an- 
other. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 29 

Of Its war-time history there is but little of interest 
to record. Upon its installation it relieved General Steele 
of the civil functions he had up to that time performed 
and thus enabled him to concentrate his strictly military 
efforts toward the "suppression of the rebellion." 

Its legislature undertook to fill the two vacant seats 
in the United States Senate by the election of Elisha 
Baxter and William M. Fishback, both of whom, it Is 
scarcely necessary to say, were refused admittance by 
that body. At last the long-drawn-out hostilities between 
the loyal and disloyal States came to an end, and with 
it the complete dissolution of the governments of the 
States that had constituted the Confederacy. 

The governing powers at Washington were now con- 
fronted by the alternatives of the continuance, for the 
time being, of the Murphy government, or its dissolu- 
tion and the return of the powers conferred upon it by 
the military authority to the source from whence they 
had sprung. It seems to have been the policy of the 
General Government to give this provisional government 
a full and fair opportunity to demonstrate its loyalty and 
good faith. 

I shall now pass rapidly on toward the period of 
actual reconstruction in Arkansas, which commenced with 
the enactment of the Congressional Reconstruction 
Measures. 

THE CAPTURE OF THE MURPHY GOVERNMENT BY 
DEMOCRATS 

One June day In 1866 my old friend, Col. Wllloughby 
Williams, and I were by accident fellow-passengers on 
a Mississippi River steamboat, — he on his way to his 
summer home In Nashville, Tenn,, and I on a business 
trip to Memphis. The Colonel was a citizen of Ten- 



30 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

nessee, but nearly all his business and family interests 
were in Arkansas, where he passed the greater part of 
his time. His politics were strictly of the ante-bellum 
Democratic school. 

The day being sultry, we sought the shade of an 
awning on the hurricane deck, and whiled away the time 
in the discussion of subjects of mutual concern, as we 
were both planters on a large scale and, under the new 
conditions produced by the emancipation of the slaves, 
"in the same boat." By and by our conversation 
turned to the Congressional breach between President 
Johnson and Congress, which as it widened day by 
day raised correspondingly the hopes and the expecta- 
tions of the political school to which the Colonel be- 
longed. 

I must acknowledge that In this quarrel at first I was 
inclined to adopt the views of the President. This the 
Colonel knew. Hence, reinforced by confidence-produc- 
ing juleps, he then and there unfolded to me the whole 
scheme for the restoration of the old slave-holding regime 
In the State, of which the first and most Important step 
was to secure Democratic representation in Congress 
from Arkansas. With such representation, "the good 
people," as he termed his political associates, "would then 
be able to manage their own affairs to suit themselves." 

This end was to be attained through three successive 
stages : first, through the temporary acceptance of the 
once hated and despised Murphy Government; second, 
through Democratic success at the biennial election to be 
held In August of that year; third, pending the acquire- 
ment of representation In Congress, the wielding of 
the powers of the State with such tact and discre- 
tion as would tend to quiet the suspicions of the 
Northern people. This, under their scheme, required 
the adoption of a "make-believe" policy in the putting 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 31 

forward of men for United States Senators and Repre- 
sentatives in Congress who had not been too prominent 
in the secession movement. 

Colonel Williams enlarged upon the advantages of 
the recognition of the "Murphy Government." It would 
appeal to the North as an evidence of the acceptance by 
the ex-Confederates of the situation; while at home Mur- 
phy would be but a figurehead whose veto could be over- 
come, if they were successful. The Colonel expressed 
the hope that by this plan they "would recover by the 
ballot what they had lost by the sword." This was his 
exact language ! I have never forgotten it. 

I concluded to take no part in their movement but to 
continue my business activities on my plantation. Hence 
when a delegation of gentlemen from Pine Bluff waited 
upon me with a propostion to allow the use of my name 
as a Democratic candidate for Congress I respectfully 
declined. Afterwards, when circumstances forced me 
into the whirlpool of politics and I became Governor of 
Arkansas, the information imparted to me by Colonel 
Williams was of the greatest value. It was the lifting 
of the veil that enabled me to see clearly at all stages 
the true character of Democratic inwardness. 

In due course the biennial election was held, and in 
accordance with the Colonel's expectations the returns 
showed that the ex-Confederates had elected, by an over- 
whelming majority, members of both houses of the Legis- 
lature and, with a few unimportant exceptions, all the 
other elective officers. 

This election with its official machinery was based 
upon the re-enactment by the "Murphy Government" of 
the ante-bellum constitution. For the Republicans to 
have accepted this usurpation of power would have been 
to concede the whole contention. Hence, as a general 
thing, they remained away from the polls. On the other 



32 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

hand, the ballot boxes were thrown wide open, and all 
the class afterward excluded by the Reconstruction Acts 
was permitted to vote. 

On the 20th day of December, 1866, the Legislature 
just referred to sent a commission to Washington, D. C, 
for the alleged purpose of a conference with the Govern- 
ment of the United States as to the political condition 
of the country.^ The real purpose was to gain over, by 
deceptive representations as to conditions In Arkansas, a 
sufficient number of wavering Republican Senators and 
Representatives to secure the admission to both Houses 
of Congress of their Senatorial and Congressional rep- 
resentatives. Upon the return of the Commission from 
Washington, It made a report to the Joint Assembly,^ 
from which I quote as follows : 

"We cannot, however, close this report without en- 
deavoring to impress upon our fellow-citizens the Im- 
portance, the absolute necessity, of remaining quiet, of 
preserving good order, and a quiet submission to and a 
rigid enforcement of the law everywhere within the limits 
of the State. 

"Outrages upon freedmen, violations of law that are 
permitted to pass unpunished, are reported by *argus- 
eyed' letter writers, whose whole stock in trade consists 
In this morbid desire to foment sectional strife. 

"Upon the importance of remaining quiet, orderly, 
and patient, under the state of things now surrounding 
us, we have met the following in one of the newspapers 
published in the city of Memphis, which embodies the 
views of the committee so fully and expresses them so 
clearly that we present It as the conclusion of this report: 

" 'If there ever was a time In the history of the 
people when they had everything to gain by being per- 
fectly quiet and Impassive, under the bluster and threats 
of a certain class of politicians, that time is at hand In 
the South. There is no provocation which should Induce 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS '33 

them to lose their self-possession and make imprudent 
or passionate remarks. They should allow the Butlers, 
the Stevenses, and the Sumners to do all the bullying. 
They should listen to the violent harangues of these men 
with perfect equanimity. They should exhibit no antag- 
onism to these chiefs of crimination against their sec- 
tion. These men feed upon the responses which their 
malevolence evokes ; not to notice them is to destroy them. 
They have grown skillful in so shaping their assaults as 
to bring out the greatest amount of resistance from the 
South. But when the South ceases to resist, their voca- 
tion is gone.' 

"We wish we could impress this serious truth upon 
our countrymen. To let them alone is the surest method 
to break the force of their attacks. Opposition is the 
life of their policy, and hostility, open and active, builds 
them up. On the contrary, when they are no longer 
resisted, they lose all their force and influence. A Mem- 
phis or New Orleans riot would vitalize their party and 
prolong its existence. A few inflammatory articles from 
our newspapers, or speeches from leading men in our 
midst, would give them a new lease upon political life. 

"We must be prudent and cautious if we wish to 
defeat these practical and cunning antagonists. We 
must furnish no food for their libels, no pretexts for 
their assaults; if we do this, they will naturally fall 
to pieces and divide. There is no cohesion among them 
but the common desire of remaining in oflice. This they 
have obtained by hostility to the South. If we demon- 
strate by our conduct, our prudence, and our silence that 
we are pursuing our private interests without detriment 
to anyone, and that we are determined not to regard 
the calumnies of our enemies, the great mass of the 
people of the North will see that these mischief-makers 
have deceived them, and will change their tone with refer- 
ence to our people. 

"Already we see signs which unmistakably indicate 
that the radical party is beginning to disintegrate, and 



34 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

if the whole people, everywhere in the State, will pre- 
serve law and order, they will arm themselves with a 
power which no adversary can resist." 

The enactment of the Reconstruction Measures about 
three months later precipitated a change from their pre- 
tended policy of peace, quiet, and submission to the ex- 
treme of insurrection and anarchy that was, alas, too 
realistic. The part the Ku Klux Klan played in the 
execution of this last policy I shall fully describe later on. 

The Democratic Provisional Legislature was about to 
reconvene after the passage of the Reconstruction Acts 
when Bvt. Maj.-Gen. E. O. C. Ord, commanding the 
4th Military District of Arkansas, directed Governor 
Murphy to notify the members of the "provisional 
Legislature" that their reconvening was incompatible with 
the recent Act of Congress. Against this order the 
Democratic members of the Legislature protested in 
the following language :''^ 

"Now, while we, the members of such Legislature, 
will obey the order of General Ord, and will not attempt 
to meet again as such Legislature, yet we respectfully 
but earnestly protest against any legal right or power 
in General Ord to prevent the meeting of such Legis- 
lature, and that his order to that effect we claim to be 
unconstitutional and illegal, as also do we claim the order 
of Isaac Murphy, based on the request or direction of 
General Ord as aforesaid. We claim and insist that 
such Legislature was and is in no sense 'provisional,' 
but the Legislature of the State of Arkansas, created 
and elected according to the forms of law and the Con- 
stitution, and as such has a right to meet at the time to 
which it adjourned, in July next . . . ." 

This response by the Legislature to General Ord's 
order clearly showed that it was the policy of the Demo- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 35 

cratic party In Arkansas to adhere to the attitude of the 
National Democratic Convention, that "we regard the 
Reconstruction Acts (so called) of Congress, as such, 
as usurpations, and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and 
void." 8 

The General Government, when it forbade the re- 
assembling of the Provisional Legislature, could have 
saved the State from violent conditions leading to blood- 
shed had It disbanded, forcibly If necessary, the entire 
Provisional Government and appointed another in its 
place. 

Instead, It slept upon Its rights and permitted the 
"Provisional Government" to organize an Insurrection 
against a sovereign and coordinate State of the 
American Union, and defiantly to adhere to the exercise 
of powers that never did belong to It. The decision of 
the Supreme Court In the case of Texas vs. White ^ left 
the Democratic party without a leg to stand on, but with 
a record sullied beyond repair. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ARKANSAS 

During all of these occurrences I had taken no part 
In politics but had devoted my time entirely to my plan- 
tation. However, my Union sentiments were well known 
and my Confederate neighbors began to show their an- 
tagonism to me by the wanton destruction of my prop- 
erty. 

It will be remembered that, from the disclosures of 
Colonel Willoughby Williams, I was fully aware of their 
schemes to retain the Government of Arkansas, and I 
realized that unless some method was found to check 
their malevolence, a Union man could not live In the 
State in peace. Hence, I obtained the cooperation of 
the leading Union men there and a convention was called 



36 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

for the purpose of organizing a party in harmony with 
the General Government. 

On April 2, 1867, the Union Convention assembled 
at Little Rock and nominated a State ticket. During the 
canvass of the State an amusing incident occurred at 
Bentonville, Benton County. I was awakened about day- 
light by a fusillade of fire-arms. Upon inquiring I was 
told that the citizens were firing off their pistols prepara- 
tory to cleaning them for the day. Upon this occasion 
Judge Yonley and myself were the speakers. According 
to the program he was to make the first speech. 

The meeting was held in a large, empty warehouse, 
with a goods box at one end, from which we were to 
speak. When Judge Yonley, who was as true as steel 
but not aggressive, mounted the box he saw in front of 
him about five or six feet distant a man standing as 
straight as an Indian. His coat was of a grayish color 
and was buttoned up to his chin. Strapped around his 
waist, in full view, were two navy revolvers. In this 
position he rigidly stood during the whole of Judge 
Yonley's speech and watched him closely. 

The suspicious appearance of the man so disconcerted 
Yonley that he made a great failure in his speech, from 
which he endeavored to eliminate everything that might 
give offense to the other side. I could see the great drops 
of perspiration rolling down his face as he proceeded. 
His speech was short and was received in silence by the 
audience. 

When he had finished I mounted the box and deliv- 
ered my usual speech, but I kept this man In the corner 
of my eye for I, too, regarded him with suspicion. When 
I got down from the stand he came up to me and shook 
hands cordially and remarked: "These damned Rebels 
said you should not speak here to-day, but, by G — d, I 
intended that you should!" 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 37 

It was not until the next day that Judge Yonley knew 
the facts, when I told the story with some harmless em- 
bellishments, much to the amusement of our audience. 

I was very active during the entire canvass and when 
the State election was held, under the Reconstruction Acts 
of Congress, I was elected Governor of the State. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER II 

1 Pp. 355 and 357. 

^Journal of the Convention, Arkansas, 1864. 

^ Complete works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. IX, pp. 277, 
296, 304. 

^ Complete works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol, X, pp. 8, 11, 139. 

^Arkansas Senate Journal, 1866-67, p. 300. 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1866-67, pp. 392-397. 

^Arkansas Daily Gazette^ extract from editorial, May 18, 
1867. 

® Eighth plank of Democratic National Convention, New 
York, July, 1868, pp. 367-368, McPherson's "History of Recon- 
struction." 

^ P. 166. 



38 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER III 

MY FIRST MESSAGE TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
DELIVERED JULY 3, 1 868 

A description of conditions then existing and an out- 
line of my administrative policies were expressed in my 
first message to the Legislature, which read as follows :^ 

"Fellow-Citizens of THE Senate and House of 
Representatives: Seven years have elapsed since the 
last State Legislature convened in these halls, — seven 
short years compared with the lifetime of a State, yet 
how long when measured by the amount of human misery 
that has been condensed within that period! When that 
body met, peace and plenty reigned everywhere, the 
granaries of the State were literally overflowing, and 
that part of the community that controlled its destinies 
was the favored recipient of wealth and prosperity. 
Protected and fostered by that government that gave the 
State existence, defended in every constitutional right, 
with no disposition to interfere with the institutions of 
the State, though some of them were manifestly unjust 
and antagonistic to the spirit of our government, it was 
surely a strange frenzy that drove the people to cut 
loose from the safe moorings of the Union and launch 
out amid the rocks and breakers of rebellion. But how 
different have the results been from ^hose anticipated! 
The great blot of human slavery that so long defaced 
our national escutcheon, — a blot that the statesmen of 
the past have labored in vain to remove, — has by an 
overruling Providence been forever wiped out through 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 39 

the very agencies that sought to perpetuate it. Indeed 
'There is a Divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew 
them as we mayl' I thank God that the work is done, 
— that the long agony is over, — and that the represent- 
atives of the people are again permitted peaceably to 
assemble within the legislative halls of the State under 
the starry flag of that country that is now indeed and 
in truth 'The land of the free and the home of the 
brave.' 

"The duties and responsibilities that you have 
assumed are most difficult and grave. Much is expected 
of you. The eyes of the friends of civil liberty every- 
where are fixed anxiously upon you. Many of your hon- 
orable body have risked your lives upon the battlefield 
in the service of your country. All have, perhaps, sacri- 
ficed much in the same cause. The people will expect 
you to show the same devotion for the public welfare 
in the future as you have in the past. With the passions, 
prejudices, and animosities that have grown out of the 
civil conflict through which we have passed we should 
have nothing to do, except to provide for and encourage 
their allayment. Selfish motives and individual interests 
should be laid aside, and a desire to promote the public 
welfare should prompt every official action. An indus- 
trious and careful application should be given to the 
public service that undue and hasty legislation may be 
avoided. In the appropriation of the public funds true 
economy should be observed, as distinguished from a 
mean and niggardly policy. 

"The evils of past legislation should be at once cor- 
rected and immediate steps should be taken to preserve 
the public peace and enforce the laws. The body poli- 
tic has been prostrated by a terrible malady, and rest 
and careful nursing are required for a time before the 
great work of development can be undertaken. In our 
present weak, disordered, and impoverished condition, 
is there not danger of too much legislation? After re- 
pairing and remodeling such parts of the intricate ma- 



40 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

chinery of state government as are known to produce 
friction, let us put it in motion and carefully note its ac- 
tion. A practical test will doubtless suggest much that 
theory might overlook or misapply. 

"I respectfully suggest that after making such en- 
actments as the present demands and the new order of 
things require you take a recess until after the fall elec- 
tions. This will enable you to act upon the submission 
of the question to the people of loaning the credit of 
the State for the encouragement of railroads, to which 
your attention will hereafter be more fully invited; will 
permit such of your honorable body as are engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, upon the success of which so much 
depends, to give your personal attention to your crops 
at this critical season, and will enable you to confer with 
your constituents and properly investigate the great ques- 
tions of public policy that will require action upon 
your re-assembling. Should Providence bless us with 
abundant crops, as the prospects now indicate, and peace 
and good order be restored to the State, we may safely 
commence the grand march of improvement. 

"Believing that you will adopt this course, I now 
propose to call your attention to such measures as, in my 
judgment, require immediate action. 

MILITIA 

"The fathers of the republic have declared and ex- 
perience has proved that 'The bulwark of our liberties 
is our citizen soldiery.' Under the peculiar circumstances 
of the present, the public safety absolutely demands that 
you should proceed at once to provide for an efficient 
and well-disciplined militia. The military force should, 
in my opinion, be composed of two classes. The first 
class should embrace such able-bodied electors and young 
men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one as vol- 
untarily uniform themselves and ofFer their services to 
the State, to be officered, organized, and armed under the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 41 

direction of th' commander-in-chief. The second class 
should embrace Al able-bodied electors not organized in 
the first class, who should be enrolled, and at the dis- 
cretion of the commander-in-chief, organized and armed. 

REGISTRATION AND ELECTION LAWS 

"The constitution fixes the qualifications of electors. 
Steps should be taken to enable all who are authorized 
to exercise the elective franchise to do so freely and 
without restraint, and to prevent the improper exercise 
of that privilege. This must be done through wise reg- 
istration and election laws, which are both very im- 
portant, and should receive your early attention. 

"I recommend that the county officers having in 
charge registration be required, in addition to that duty, 
to enroll the militia. This will save the expense of de- 
tailing officers for that service, and will be as efficient. 

"That the will of the people is the supreme law is a 
principle of government that underlies our free Institu- 
tions. He, therefore, who would willfully defeat the 
true expression of that will, by deterring a citizen from 
the exercise of the elective franchise, or by defrauding 
him of his vote, strikes a blow at the foundations of the 
government itself and merits the severe pains and penal- 
ties of an outraged law. 

"In view of the fall elections you should, at an early 
day, by the enactment of a wise and rigorous election 
law, put Into the hands of the executive officers of the 
State ample authority for the protection of every quali- 
fied elector In the free expression of his preference at 
the ballot box. 

IMMIGRATION 

"There is probably no question that will affect the 
future destiny of Arkansas so much as that of immigra- 
tion. 

"Providence has richly endowed our State with those 



42 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

elements of wealth that are necessary to constitute an 
independent and self-supporting community. Yet, in the 
midst of this great age of progress and improvement, 
our primeval forests, as of yore, rear their' arms to 
Heaven and seem to defy the hand of man. Millions of 
broad acres, teeming with fatness and fertile beyond 
description, patiently await the 'open sesame' that shall 
unlock and develop their varied stores. Limitless wealth 
buried under broad hills, concealed in secluded valleys, 
and hidden in mountain caves awaits the glad advent of 
the pick and bar. 

"Reflecting upon our great agricultural staple, we 
involuntarily pause to listen for the hum of machinery 
and the clank of the loom. 

"After a patient waiting of half a century the light 
of a higher civilization has burst upon Arkansas. 

"The vast tide of immigration that from across the 
waters has been moving westward for so many years, — 
peopling territories, building cities, and creating States 
with magical rapidity, — only awaits our action to pour 
itself within the limits of our State. 

"We should invite all classes to come here and we 
should greet everyone with a cordial welcome. Capital 
should be protected, industry fostered, and over each in- 
dividual should be extended the strong and protecting 
arm of the law, — guaranteeing, upon the soil of Ar- 
kansas, equal rights to all men. 

"I confidently expect that at an early period you will 
establish a liberal and vigorous bureau of immigration; 
and I earnestly recommend that you so define the duties 
of the commissioner and clothe him with such powers in 
relation to his intercourse with the most populous parts 
of this and foreign countries as shall enable him to cope 
successfully with the agents of other States, and to di- 
rect the capital and labor of the North to this more ge- 
nial climate, and by a thorough diffusion of facts and 
statistics so to determine the line of immigration from 
Europe to this State as to make us the recipients of those 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 43 

elements of wealth and prosperity from which, by the 
old order of things, we were effectually debarred. 



RAILROADS 

"Closely connected with the question of immigration 
are our railroad interests. The immigrant in seeking 
and locating his new home is apt to follow railroad lines. 
And whilst it is true that our noble rivers, which spread 
over our State like great arteries, afford a natural means 
of intercommunication unsurpassed by any other State, 
they are insufficient, and, for travelling purposes, must 
soon give way to railroad communication. 

"The very act of constructing our railroads will bring 
into our State thousands of laborers, who will soon dis- 
cover superior inducements to stay among us; and by 
communicating with their friends will produce a flow of 
immigration which, once started, will rapidly increase. 

"But I need make no arguments in favor of railroads, 
for I believe your honorable and intelligent body is 
fully convinced of their great value and importance. 
They are themselves existing witnesses of their wealth- 
giving power, for wherever they reach out their iron 
arms the seeds of prosperity are rapidly disseminated; 
wherever the shrill voice of the 'iron horse' is heard 
every branch of industry is stimulated; along the tracks 
upon which he courses the forests disappear, the rough 
face of nature is smoothed down, and farms, villages, 
towns, and cities spring up as if by magic; as each suc- 
cessive train sweeps by, laden with the varied merchan- 
dise of every clime, far out to the right and left is dis- 
seminated information for the people, — information that 
educates as well as enriches. 

"Can we do anything at this time to encourage this 
great interest that brings with it so many blessings? 
There is one important step that I believe we can and we 
should take in that direction. A railroad bill should be 
passed before you adjourn that will provide for the loan- 



44 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ing of the credit of the State to such roads as are now, 
or may hereafter, be incorporated, that shall be shown 
to be of sufficient benefit to the State to justify such loan, 
and that may not have received from the general gov- 
ernment, by grant of lands or otherwise, sufficient as- 
sistance to insure the completion of the same without the 
aid of the State. The Constitution of the State wisely 
provides that the credit of the State shall never be loaned 
without the consent of the people expressed at the bal- 
lot-box. The question should therefore be submitted 
to the people at the fall elections, which will enable you 
upon your re-assembling to take such action as the re- 
sults may demand. 

"It is not expected that you will create fresh indebted- 
ness by the issuance of bonds whilst our credit is in its 
present condition, unless the exigencies of the State gov- 
ernment should require it. 

"I am indebted to Gen. M. Brayman, President of 
the Cairo and Fulton Railroad Company, for an able 
and concise statement of the history and condition of 
that corporation. This document will be submitted to 
you for your information. 

OUR PRESENT INDEBTEDNESS 

"Whilst every principle of justice and honor demands 
that we should, at as early a period as practicable, set- 
tle every honest debt, no matter when contracted, the 
public interest requires that we should take sufficient time 
to Investigate thoroughly claims that originated so many 
years ago, and at a period that seems to have been 
marked by a degree of official corruption and misrule 
probably unprecedented in the history of any other State. 

"I shall make the investigation of this important sub- 
ject my especial duty, and endeavor to gain, as soon as 
possible, such information as will enable me to lay be- 
fore your honorable body, at your re-assembling, such 
facts and figures as will facilitate your action ; and I hope 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 45 

to be able at the same time to submit such terms of ad- 
justment as will conform to the interests and honor of 
the State and satisfy the rights of the public creditor. 

EDUCATION 

"Your attention is respectfully invited to a question 
that is perhaps more important than any other you may 
be called upon to consider. It is that of universal edu- 
cation. To the ears of the oppressor this is a startling 
and dangerous subject; for, wherever the ennobling in- 
fluences of education are felt, the shackles fall from 
the limbs of the oppressed, — the slave becomes a free- 
man. To the lover of freedom it is the very 'philoso- 
pher's stone' that changes the base metal of the ignorant 
and slavish mind to the pure ore upon which the light of 
liberty is caught and from which it is reflected to other 
minds until the whole becomes illumined. To us it is the 
keystone of the grand arch upon which rests the fair 
structure of our free government. No State founded 
upon the principles upon which our government is based 
can prosper where ignorance prevails. The people can- 
not rule successfully unless they are educated and in- 
formed. 

"Free schools and free labor are necessary adjuncts 
— they go hand in hand together. The one produces 
from the garden of the mind its choicest fruits, the other 
causes 'the wilderness to blossom as the rose.' 

"The wicked and shameful manner in which the ser- 
vants of the people have neglected their educational in- 
terests and appropriated to their own selfish uses and 
the unhallowed purposes of treason the magnificent en- 
dowment of a generous government subjects them to 
the merited condemnation of all true patriots. In re- 
gard to the advancement of the common school interests 
the question heretofore seems to have been, not how to 
do it, but how not to do it. A comparison of the condi- 
tion of common schools in this State, — as shown by Gov- 



46 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ernor Henry Rector's message, delivered to the General 
Assembly November 15, i860, — with that of the State of 
Michigan, which became a member of the Federal Union 
at the same time with Arkansas, and under circumstances 
less favorable, is calculated to create a sickening sensa- 
tion in the breast of one having the interests of educa- 
tion at heart. In 1855 Michigan maintained 3,255 com- 
mon schools, and employed 5,078 teachers. In i860, as 
shown by the message above referred to, but 25 common 
schools were organized and kept up in this State from 
the common school fund. I am unable to give you cor- 
rect information of the number of common schools now 
in operation, but for practical purposes it would be safe 
to proceed as if there were none. 

"From reliable statistics obtained from the lists of 
registered voters made last fall it is shown that thirty 
per cent of the white and fifty per cent of the entire vot- 
ing population were unable to write their own names. 
Nothing but a due sense of my constitutional obligations 
and an earnest desire to promote the educational in- 
terests of the State Induces me to make this shameful 
disclosure. Fortunately, after thirty-two years of igno- 
rance and misrule, a way Is at last opened through which 
the light of intelligence can enter and shed its beneficent 
rays over the whole State. 

"The framers of our present Constitution have 
placed themselves in enviable comparison with past leg- 
islators, and merited the approbation and gratitude of 
posterity by that one act of far-seeing statesmanship 
that secures to future generations the inestimable boon 
of education, and gives life and perpetuity to the State 
by providing the means whereby its future supporters 
and defenders may be prepared for the proper exercise 
of the duties of American citizenship. 

"You are expected to take up this work that has been 
so well begun, and at an early day devise and estabHsh 
a wise system of free schools, — one that will not be 
out of proportion with our limited means, but will be so 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 47 

adjusted as to grow with our growth and strengthen 
with our strength. After a system Is estabhshed, the 
work of execution should be put Into the hands of com- 
petent men, depending more upon efficiency than num- 
bers. The work that under the present system Is en- 
trusted to nearly sixty officers could. In my opinion, be 
more efficiently performed by ten. I therefore respect- 
fully suggest the propriety of abolishing the office of 
county school commissioner, and creating in lieu thereof 
district superintendents for each judicial district that Is 
now or may hereafter be established. These district su- 
perintendents should be charged with the work of or- 
ganizing school districts and establishing schools; they 
should have immediate supervision over the school di- 
rectors of the various school districts and see that said 
directors perform their duties promptly and according 
to law; they should examine and license teachers, and 
organize teachers' institutes; they should provide rules 
and regulations for the government of schools, and visit 
the schools frequently for the purpose of ascertaining 
the efficiency of the teachers, and they should examine the 
titles of all school lands that have heretofore been dis- 
posed of and report to the proper officer such. If any, 
as are illegally held and their condition. In short, they 
should have full supervision of all matters pertaining to 
the school Interests In their respective districts. 

"In addition to these duties, the district superintend- 
ents, with the State Superintendent as presiding officer, 
should constitute a board of education, which should 
meet at the capital yearly, and have conferred upon it 
such legislative powers as may enable said board to make 
such amendments In the school system as the applica- 
tion of theory to practice or the exigencies of the edu- 
cational interests may demand. 

"The present condition of our school Interests Is un- 
precedented. A large portion of the community Is known 
to be antagonistic to the principles of universal educa- 
tion. The prejudices that exist against a certain class 



48 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

of the people will tend to embarrass the situation. Ob- 
stacles will doubtless be thrown in the way where active 
support should be given. 

"The establishment of the school systems of the older 
States has been the work of years. We cannot expect 
successfully to apply at once to our State the elaborate 
plans that they have slowly perfected and adjusted to 
suit their enlarged views and peculiar localities and con- 
ditions. Before we can arrive at such a degree of per- 
fection the people must be educated as well as the rising 
generation. 

BLIND INSTITUTE 

"Your attention is called to the reports of the 'Ar- 
kansas Institute for the Blind.' This institution has been 
maintained at the public expense. In case you create the 
educational board, as recommended, I would respectfully 
suggest that you abolish the board of trustees, and put 
this institution under the control of said educational 
board. 

"It is believed that the institution should be moved 
from Arkadelphia and located at the Capital. The rea- 
sons given for the latter location are that it is more 
accessible, that supplies can be obtained more conven- 
iently, and that when the legislature is in session the mem- 
bers can more readily acquaint themselves with its con- 
dition. If the expenses of making the contemplated 
change will not be great, I would respectfully recom- 
mend it. 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

"For the purpose of bringing to light our great min- 
eral resources and facilitating their development, I re- 
spectfully recommend that the Executive be authorized 
to employ a person skilled in the sciences of geology, 
mineralogy, and mining, who shall proceed upon the data 
afforded by the able reconnaissance of Prof. David 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 49 

Dale Owen to make a thorough investigation of the vari- 
ous mineral localities of this State. A reasonable sum 
expended in a scientific investigation of this nature will 
doubtless bring to light vast resources of hidden wealth, 
which will not only afford profitable employment to thou- 
sands of enterprising artisans, but will add very much 
to the revenues of the commonwealth. 



STATE HOUSE AND GROUNDS 

"Your attention is respectfully called to the condi- 
tion of the State House. Strangers visiting our Capital 
would form a very unfavorable opinion of our common- 
wealth, I fear, should they happen to stroll into that 
building. The public interest requires that it should be 
kept in a state of repair, and common decency demands 
that the halls, corridors, and grounds should be cleansed 
of the rubbish that now encumbers them. 

"Trusting that your deliberations may be harmoni- 
ous and redound to the public good, and that nothing may 
occur to disturb or impair the unity and confidence that 
should exist between the gentlemen of your department 
and the executive, I respectfully submit the foregoing 
for your consideration. 

Powell Clayton, Governor." 

FOOTNOTE FOR CHAPTER III 
^Arkansas House Journal, 1868, pp. 290-300. 



so THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER IV 

REGISTRATION 

The Law of Arkansas, fixing the qualifications of 
registered voters, was as follows: 

"No person shall be registered who during the late 
rebellion took the oath of allegiance to the United States, 
or gave bond of loyalty or for good behavior, unless he 
shall show by satisfactory evidence that he has ever kept 
this said oath or bond Inviolate, or that he has openly 
advocated or voted for the reconstruction measures of 
Congress, or voted for the constitution at the civil polls 
at the Constitutional election of 1868."^ 

Because of the large number of ex-Confederate sol- 
diers who were thus disfranchised the execution of this 
law proved to be a source of highly insurrectionary and 
irreconcilable contentions. 

The Board of Registration In each county consisted 
of three members, one of whom was styled "president" 
and the others were known as "registrars." For the 
comparatively short period of their employment these 
officers were to receive six dollars a day, and because 
of the temporary character of the work and of the small 
compensation, it was almost impossible to secure efficient 
officers to perform these very unpopular and dangerous 
duties. 

Therefore many registrars practically threw the 
registration books open to all, while others who rigidly 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 51 

performed their duties were subjected to great danger, 
even to assassination, as in the case of Capt. Simpson 
Mason, registrar of Fulton County, who, while riding 
along the road to the place of registration, was fired 
upon and killed by a body of men in ambush. ^ 

This crime was soon followed by the attempted 
assassination and wounding of F. A. McClure, registrar 
of Woodruff County; the severe wounding of Gen. D. P. 
Upham,^ who was accompanying him to the place of reg- 
istration (whether in an official capacity or not I am 
unable to state), and many other outrages against the 
registrars which caused the registering officers in twelve 
counties to resign. This action upon their part made it 
impossible for an election to be held in those counties, 
as the period between their resignation and the date fixed 
by the Constitution for the holding of the election was 
not sufficient to permit the publication and preliminary 
action required by law.^ 

To avoid the legal effects of disfranchisement, the 
Gazette, the organ of the Democratic Party, and other 
Democratic newspapers in the State, urged those who 
were disfranchised to overcome all scruples and perjure 
themselves by taking this oath. In support of this ad- 
vice they used the most fallacious and illogical arguments, 
which, if acted upon, would not only have caused the 
person so acting to commit the crime of perjury, but 
would have subjected him, under the law then in force, 
to the penalty of imprisonment in the penitentiary for 
from two to five years. 

To illustrate their advice, I reproduce from a mass 
of similar matter the following extracts from the 
Gazette: 

"[August 30, 1868. Extract from Editorial.] A 
'case of conscience' is thrust upon us by our dissenting 



52 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

friends. Let them weigh in their nicest scales of high 
morality the alternatives as above depicted, and answer 
if it is not a more monstrous crime to continue the radi- 
cals in power by refusing the oath than to eject them 
and install Democrats by taking it? 

"Shipwrecked, — an angry sea threatening to devour 
us, — pirates bearing down upon us to torture and kill, 
— may we not righteously take any oath that saves from 
such perils? 

"[August I, 1868. Extract from Editorial.] Now 
it has become necessary for self-preservation, a right en- 
joyed by the lowest of the animal kingdom, for such of 
our people as can do so to take this oath and vote in the 
coming election. Our state central committee has so 
advised. We presume there are none among us who 
will not see the necessity of this course, and trust that 
none, — no, not one, — will object to taking this oath. . . . 
In cases of this sort it has always been conceded that it 
is right to swear, and violate the pledge at the first tem- 
ple of justice. We trust that from some of these or like 
considerations our people will all find it possible to come 
forward, take the oath, and vote for Seymour and Blair. 
It is a sacred duty we owe future generations. Nor will 
it matter for the purposes of the fall election what may 
have been the individual construction put upon the oath 
by those who accept it. Any differences of that sort may 
be settled in future, and need not embarrass the present. 

"[August 4, 1868. Editorial.] In regard to the 
propriety of urging our people to take the oath, we will 
say frankly that we have not the time nor disposition just 
now to discuss the ethics of the subject. We are firm 
believers in the saving grace of the Christian religion, and 
it is never too late to found a hope of ultimate salva- 
tion there, let our course political be what it may. As a 
general thing we hold to the opinion that an honest man's 
politics and religion are not distantly related. In the 
present political struggle we believe that the end we seek 
will justify the use of ANY means." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 53 

So shocking was this advice as to call forth from 
Gen. Albert Pike, — at that time the head of the Masonic 
Fraternity and a leading Democrat, a man whose life- 
size statue is accorded a prominent place at the National 
Capital among the distinguished citizens of America, — 
a severe stricture, published in the Memphis Appeal, 
September 10, 1868, from which I quote as follows: 

"Some gentlemen, and among the rest Col. J. M. 
Harrell, of Little Rock [editor of the Little Rock Ga- 
zette^, are laying up for themselves 'wrath against the 
day of wrath.' We shall be at liberty to speak by and 
by. It is but a little more than two months to the day 
of election in November, after which no pledge of honor 
to party will any longer seal up our mouths. Wait and 
see ! ... It seems to be the ambition of many political 
leaders to be damned by advising people oppressed by 
calamity to take the ways that lead directly downward 
to the hell of dishonor. We do not wonder that they 
point the people to the present profit that they are to 
reap as the fruit of crime. 

"No sophistry can disguise the fact that for one to 
swear that he will never attempt to deprive any negro 
of the right to vote, with the settled intention to change 
the Constitution of the State as soon as possible, so that 
this oath shall be no longer required, and to elect legis- 
lators who will deprive the negro of the right of suf- 
frage, is to swear with the purpose of perjury determined 
on. No such oath was taken, because no such oath was 
required in Maryland. It is not standing on dead issues 
to advise the people not to do a shameful act, which will 
be hardly done ere it will be repented of in sackcloth 
and ashes. The man who advises the people to such a 
course will indeed 'build his coffin,' and find death a re- 
lief from the ignominy that will overwhelm all such coun- 
sellors. 

" 'I will be a swift witness against the false swearers, 
saith the Lord of Hosts.' 'They have spoken words, 



54 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

swearing falsely in making a covenant; thus judgment 
springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field,' 

"It is men who are deceivers, — not the devil. The 
first and worst fraud of all is to cheat' one's self. All 
sin is easy after that. 

"If the people of Arkansas permit themselves to be 
led into the great sin and shame to which they are 
tempted, they will cheat themselves, and afterwards find 
that no permanent profit or advantage can be reaped by a 
people from an act for which its own conscience will in 
vain labor to find a sufficient excuse. That which is right 
and just and true is only profitable in the end to man or 
nations." 

Kindred to the foregoing question is the advice given 
by the Gazette, to its party adherents, from which I quote 
as follows: 

"[August 8, 1868. Extract from Editorial.] An 
act defining the qualifications of jurors.^ 

"Section i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly 
of the State of Arkansas, That all qualified electors of 
this State, and none others, shall be competent jurors. 

"Section 2. Be it further enacted, That all laws and 
parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed, 
and that this act take effect and be in force from and 
after its passage. 

"Such a high-handed outrage upon the rights of men, 
and so flagrant a violation of long established prece- 
dent, needs no comment. It is enough to know that the 
future existence in Arkansas of those who may chance 
to differ with the radical party is rendered impossible, 
unless the power that attempts to enforce this law is 
broken up. Let the word go forth that this shall be 
done. IT IS OUR ONLY SAFETY, AND JUSTL 
FIES ANY MEANS." 

So the "Organ," speaking for its party, advised the 
commission of every crime punishable by the laws of 
God or man for the accomplishment of its base political 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 55 

purposes. These startling announcements are too clearly 
expressed to require any elucidation upon my part, and 
they completely justified the wisdom of the Constitutional 
Convention in its efforts to debar from suffrage persons 
entertaining such atrocious sentiments. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER IV 

^ See Arkansas Laws, 1868, p. 55, Sec. 11. 
^ See p. 90. 

^Arkansas Gazette, October 14, 1868. 
* See Arkansas Laws, 1868, pp. 52-60. 
^ See Arkansas Laws, 1868, p. 35. 



56 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER V 

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATIONS OF KU KLUX KLAN IN 

ARKANSAS 

Soon came whisperings of a mysterious secret order, 
followed by reports from several parts of the State of 
"night-riders." It was said that the horses and the 
men were concealed by masks, gowns, and trappings 
made of black calico bespangled with glittering, metallic, 
cabalistic designs. 

About the same time reports came to me from mem- 
bers of the Legislature and other public officials of the 
receipt of warnings left at night by unknown hands in 
familiar places, written in a peculiar vocabulary, urging 
them to desist in their political activities and leave the 
country or suffer the dire consequences of Ku Klux ven- 
geance. The following Ku Klux proclamation was found 
posted on a tree in Pine Bluff, Ark., and was published 
in the Republican, April 6, 1868 : 

"k. k. k. 

"Corinth Division, 
"Pine Bluff Retreat. 
"special order no. 2 

"Spirit Brothers; Shadows of Martyrs; Phantoms 
from gory fields; Followers of Brutus 1 ! 1 1 1 ! Rally, 
rally, rally. — When shadows gather, moons grow dim, 
and stars tremble glide to the Council Hall and wash 
your hands in tyrants' blood; and gaze upon the list of 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 57 

condemned traitors. The time has arrived. Blood must 
flow. The true must be saved. 

"Work in darkness. 

"Bury in waters. 

"Make no sound. 

"Trust not the air. 

"Strike high and sure. 

"Vengeance! Vengeance! Vengeance! 

"Tried, condemned. Execute well. Fear is dead. 

Every man is a Judge and this Executes. !!!!!! Fail 
Not. ! ! Mandate of the m. g. c." 

By D. M. G. C. i2mp 2. 

On the 9th of September while hunting near Little 
Rock I had the misfortune to lose my left hand by the 
accidental discharge of my gun. One night shortly after 
the amputation word came to my bedside that in the ante- 
room there was a mysterious stranger who insisted on 
seeing me alone, "upon very important business." My 
first impulse was to decline to see the man, but instinc- 
tively I changed my mind and ordered him to be ad- 
mitted. When he opened the door he looked cautiously 
around, then said, "Governor, is there anybody who can 
hear what I want to say to you?" I replied, "You can 
speak with safety." 

He commenced by giving me his name and place 
of residence, and by saying that he could impart to 
me valuable information relative to the Ku Klux organ- 
ization in Arkansas. He proposed that after he had 
fully conveyed to me this information, if I should con- 
sider it of sufficient value, I should supply him with about 
$300 to enable him to remove himself and his family 
from the State. On the other hand, he would require 
my solemn pledge that I would not, at any time or under 
any circumstances, divulge his name as my informant. 



58 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

As his proposition seemed reasonable I readily con- 
sented to it. He then informed me that he was the 
Cyclops of a certain Ku Klux den in Independence 
County; that he joined the Klan believing its purposes 
to be protective against negro aggression, and politically 
a harmless adjunct to the Democratic Party in Its efforts 
to carry the forthcoming election; but Its usurpations of 
powers, including those that controlled life and death, 
and the shocking outrages committed by it throughout 
the State had convinced him that the day of exposure 
was near, and that when that day came he intended, with 
his family, to be safely located beyond the jurisdiction 
of the State and the reach of the long arm of the aveng- 
ing Klan. 

He first gave me a printed copy of the Ku Klux ritual 
and explained Its provisions. He also Informed me of 
some of the Klan's operations In the neighboring county 
of White. He, in short, placed me in possession of such 
information as would enable my secret agents to gain 
admittance to dens In the State. He did not ask for 
any money until his Information should be verified by 
the admittance of one of my agents to a den In the City 
of Little Rock or elsewhere. This being so far satis- 
factory, I put him In communication with Adjt.-Gen. 
Keyes Danforth, with the understanding that he should 
give Danforth all the information he possessed. 

The Ku Klux Klan was organized by General For- 
rest In Memphis, Tenn., a year before my inauguration. 
Before the war he had been a negro overseer and a slave 
trader of the lowest type, and was not recognized socially 
by the planters. Indeed, he was a fitting leader for this 
foul organization. It was not until I was visited by the 
"mysterious stranger" that I had full knowledge of Its 
existence. Bearing upon Its organization and purposes, 
I refer the reader to the following extract from the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 59 

Arkansas Daily Gazette of August 11, 191 1, based upon 
an interview with Gen. R. G. Shaver: 

"was wizard in ARKANSAS 

"General Shaver was Wizard of Ku Klux in this 
State, and was present at the organization of the order 
in Memphis, Tenn., in 1867. The name 'Ku Klux' was 
taken from the local Tennessee organization of similar 
purpose, or rather, bestowed upon it later, and the orig- 
inal cognomen adopted at the initial meeting was 'The 
Order of the White Man.' Together with Gen. Nathan 
Bedford Forrest, the late General Gordon, and many 
other distinguished leaders of the Confederacy, General 
Shaver, of Arkansas, met in Memphis shortly after the 
practical disfranchisement of the white man in the South 
to devise a means of taking the law in their own hands 
for the preservation of a government by the whites. Al- 
though there were assembled scores upon scores of the 
best known men in the South, both civil and military, with 
such secrecy was the meeting conducted that a majority 
of the Memphians, even, knew nothing of it. General 
Shaver served on the Tactical Committee, and was very 
active in the organization. 

"klan was purely military 

"After a meeting of about a week's duration the 
plans were perfected. The order was named, with Gen- 
eral Forrest as commander-in-chief, or grand wizard, at 
the head, and with absolute military authority. In pass- 
ing, the Klan was purely military, and not until its dis- 
banding and subsequent illegitimate reorganization did it 
usurp powers either civil or political. The names of the 
officers were, after the commander-in-chief, who was the 
grand wizard: the wizard, State commander; grand ti- 
tian, second in State command; titian, third; grand Cy- 
clops, equivalent to a brigade commander; cyclops, county 
commander; and mogul, company commander. A com- 



6o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

pany's meeting place was called a 'den.' The uniform of 
the order was a black shroud both for man and horse, 
with tin stars, half moons, etc., sewed upon it. None 
but Confederate soldiers in good standing and their sons 
from eighteen years up were admitted without securing 
dispensation from the grand wizard. General Shaver 
stated that he frequently secured dispensations in order 
that he might admit telegraph operators, by that means 
securing the wire which was held entirely by the Klan 
north of Little Rock. The meetings were always held at 
dead of night and in dense woods; the Klan never at 
any time gathered in a house, no matter what the 
weather. 

"15,000 ARMED MEN AT HIS CALL 

"Among the dens organized in Arkansas were those 
at Washington, Camden, Eldorado, Monticello, and 
other places, and General Shaver stated yesterday that 
at the time of disbanding, pursuant to the order of the 
grand wizard, he had 15,000 armed men in Arkansas 
ready to assemble at his call. Incidentally, while it is 
known to but few, the recapture of Little Rock by the 
Ku Klux was planned, when suspension orders were is- 
sued by General Forrest. 

"Among the cyclops of southern Arkansas was Gen. 
James F. Smith, of Little Rock, who was very instru- 
mental in breaking up the Negro League meetings in 
Hempstead and surrounding counties. 

" 'That was where I shone,' said the General yester- 
day in recounting an instance in which an unusually large 
gathering was broken up without the uttering of a word 
or the firing of a gun. 

"invisible empire dissolves 

"However, with the quieting of the situation and the 
inclination of the lawless element to exceed the good 
purposes for which the Klan was organized, it was 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 6i 

deemed best to disband, and in the investigation that fol- 
lowed. General Shaver, because of a traitor in his ranks, 
was forced to flee to Honduras for his life. 

"So, the Ku Klux Klan, the invisible empire, rose and 
fell in its incipiency, when Anglo-Saxon supremacy was 
its watchword and guiding star, one of the greatest or- 
ganizations ever formed, and in its later days when out- 
laws and libertines broke in to use it as a vehicle for 
personal and political prejudice, one of the worst. But 
although the latter breed masqueraded under the name 
and insignia of the Klan, they were never of it. Knight- 
hood in the order was kept pure to the last, and its doors 
were locked against the outsider as fast as the inviolate 
secret of its oath of blood is kept in the breasts of those 
who rode beneath its banner." 

General Shaver served gallantly as a brigadier-gen- 
eral in the Confederate army, and he is still living, — a 
highly respected citizen of Arkansas. In the militia oper- 
ations for the suppression of the Ku Klux he took an 
open and hostile part. It would be interesting to know 
who betrayed General Shaver and thus caused him to 
take refuge in Honduras. 

During the early stages of the Ku Klux operations 
I was inclined to believe that the doings of the Klan 
were but Democratic devices to Intimidate the negroes 
and prevent them from registering and voting at the 
forthcoming presidential election; but, as my administra- 
tion progressed, reports kept coming to me of assassina- 
tions and outrages perpetrated upon Republicans alone, 
and, in most cases. State officials. Up to the time of the 
disclosures of the man whom I shall hereafter speak of 
as the "mysterious stranger," all my efforts through the 
employment of secret service agents and the offering of 
large rewards to pierce the impenetrable veil had proved 
futile. 



62 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

It so happened that a few days before the "stranger's" 
visit Albert H. Parker came to Little Rock seeking em- 
ployment, with a highly commendatory letter to me from 
the Major of my old regiment, Samuel Walker. Mr. 
Parker was the brother of David B. Parker, for many 
years Chief Inspector of the Post Office Department at 
Washington, D. C. Before the war Albert H. Parker 
had settled in Texas, and when the great storm of se- 
cession broke out he, like many others, was swept into 
its vortex and became a soldier in the Confederate Army, 
serving, as I remember, until the end of the war, after 
which he went to Lawrence, Kan., where he lived until 
he became involved in the tragic events I shall here- 
after relate. 

In due time General Danforth informed me that all 
tests of the "mysterious stranger's" reliability had been 
satisfactorily made, so I brought Danforth and Parker 
together with the view of having the former instruct 
the latter in all the details necessary to enable him, as 
the secret agent of the Government, to perform his duties 
successfully. 

I assigned him to White County to investigate thor- 
oughly the Ku Klux operations there and especially the 
attempted assassination, wounding, and robbing of State 
Senator Stephen Wheeler,^ as well as the assassination of 
Ban Humphries,- an intelligent and very influential col- 
ored leader; and other outrages reported to me from 
that county. In assigning Parker to this work, after 
having portrayed in the strongest language at my com- 
mand its dangerous character, I left it with him to de- 
vise a pretext for his appearance in White County. He 
pretended that he was preparing for the collection of 
cattle from Texas and other southern points, to be as- 
sembled in Arkansas at a place where grazing and other 
necessities were advantageous, to be distributed event- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 63 

ually to northern markets where high prices prevailed. 
This pretext was very good for a comparatively short 
time, but his failure to assemble his droves of cattle there 
naturally caused suspicion and that should have induced 
him to report to me at once for further instructions. 

I also organized a secret service force of eleven de- 
tectives in addition to Parker. Of course, these agents 
were brought from without the State, and some, like 
Parker, had Confederate records that enabled them the 
more readily to perform their duties, which were to gain 
access to the Ku Klux dens of the localities assigned to 
them and to inform me as fully and as quickly as possible 
of the conditions existing in each. The majority of these 
agents were successful. For reasons that will soon ap- 
pear I received no report from Parker. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE MILITIA 

Having received reports from these detectives and 
information from many other sources, I determined to 
make a square issue between the State government and 
the Ku Klux insurgents in Arkansas. I issued immediate 
instructions to the officers of the State Militia to pro- 
ceed with the utmost secrecy and dispatch in the further 
organization of the State Guards, and on the 4th of 
November, 1868, I issued my proclamation declaring 
martial law in the counties enumerated therein, a copy 
of which follows:^ 

"Whereas, The Counties of Ashley, Bradley, Colum- 
bia, Lafayette, Mississippi, Woodruff, Craighead, 
Greene, Sevier, and Little River are in a state of insur- 
rection and the civil authority is utterly powerless to 
preserve order and to protect the lives of the citizens; 
unauthorized bodies of armed men (in most cases dis- 
guised) are engaged in acts of lawlessness and violence; 
the county officers have either been killed or driven away 



64 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

from their homes; or intimidated in the performance of 
their duties; the quiet and law-abiding citizens in many 
instances have not been allowed an expression of their 
sentiments, or the exercise of their duties and privileges 
as citizens, and, while hundreds of them have been mur- 
dered, in no instance known to the Executive have the 
assassins been brought to punishment by the civil authori- 
ties; the State is being invaded by bands of outlaws from 
Texas and Louisiana who are committing murders and 
depredations upon the citizens; the registration laws 
could not be fairly executed, and were necessarily set 
aside; and In many of these counties a perfect reign of 
terror now exists, and 

"Whereas, This deplorable state of affairs is, to a 
great extent, attributable to the existence of a secret or- 
ganization, military in its character, styled 'Knights of 
the White Camelia,' but more popularly known as the 
'Ku Klux Klan,' whose object is treasonable and murder- 
ous and subversive of all government; and this organiza- 
tion while It declares In article 76 of its constitution that 
'the order shall not as a body nominate, adopt, or sup- 
port any candidate or set of candidates, for any office 
of honor, profit, or trust, under the Constitution and 
laws of the United States,' thereby professedly disclaim- 
ing all political character, is at the same time plotting 
to overturn the State Government, which they hope to 
accomplish by creating vacancies In office by assassina- 
tion and intimidation, thereby preventing the loyal citi- 
zens from filling the offices thus made vacant, and from 
performing the necessary duties of citizenship and ren- 
dering the State Government inoperative. 

"It is believed that many of the law-abiding people 
of the State have become members of this band through 
ignorance of its real character and misapprehension of its 
diabolical designs, or for the purpose of obtaining pro- 
tection for themselves and their property; all such per- 
sons are advised at once to abandon this organization and 
purge themselves of all connection with it. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 65 

"now, therefore, I, POWELL CLAYTON, Governor 
of the State of Arkansas, do hereby proclaim martial 
law in the aforementioned counties. All unlawful or- 
ganizations will, upon the receipt of this proclamation, 
or notice of the same, at once disband and abstain from 
all illegal and violent acts. All who fail to do this will 
be treated as outlaws, and not entitled to the protection 
of the Government, and will certainly be brought to 
speedy and merited punishment; and all bodies of armed 
men (not organized in pursuance of the laws of the State 
and the United States) will at once disperse and return 
to their homes; and I hereby call upon and request all 
law-abiding citizens to use their influence to prevent dis- 
order and preserve the public peace. Citizens of the 
counties not under Martial Law are requested to abstain 
from all unauthorized military organizations, or from any 
interference in the affairs of other counties. Unless this 
is done Martial Law will be extended to them, and war, 
with all its horrors, may be precipitated upon the State, 
which is still suffering terribly from the former rebellion. 

"Those who participated therein are admonished 
that to engage in a second rebellion would in all proba- 
bility preclude the hope of their obtaining mercy from 
the State or general government. 

"All officers of the State Guards will at once perfect 
their organizations and hold themselves in readiness to 
respond to the orders of the Commander-in-Chief; and 
all well disposed persons not members of the State 
Guards are earnestly urged to volunteer their services 
to the support of the Government. 

"In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my 
hand, and caused the Seal of (SEAL) the State of Ar- 
kansas to be affixed at the City of Little Rock, on the 4th 
day of November, A. D. 1868. 

"Powell Clayton, Governor. 
"By the Governor: 
"Robert J. T. White, 

"Secretary of State." 



(>^ THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Generals Catterson and Upham were commissioned 
Brigadier-Generals and Samuel W. Mallory, Colonel, 
of the State Guards, and under the provisions of General 
Orders No. 8 (a copy of which follows),^ they were as- 
signed to the military districts named therein. These offi- 
cers immediately assumed command and entered energeti- 
cally upon their duties. 

"General Headquarters, State of Arkansas, 

"Adjutant-General's Office, 
"Little Rock, Ark., Nov. 7, 1868. 
"General Orders 
"No. VIII. 

"I. The Districts created by General Orders No. 
II are hereby abolished. 

"II. For the purpose of perfecting the organization 
of the Militia, and carrying into effect the Governor's 
Proclamation declaring Martial Law in several counties 
of this State, the following Military Districts are hereby 
Established. 

"III. District of the Southwest will comprise the 
counties of Sebastian, Scott, Yell, Perry, Pulaski, Polk, 
Montgomery, Hot Springs, Saline, Sevier, Pike, Clark, 
Dallas, Little River, Hempstead, Ouachita, Calhoun, 
Lafayette, Columbia, and Union, commanded by Brig.- 
Gen. Robert F. Catterson. 

"IV. District of the Northwest will comprise the 
counties of Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Pope, Conway, 
Van Buren, Searcy, Newton, Madison, Washington, 
Benton, Carroll, and Marion. 

"V. District of the Northeast will comprise the 
counties of Fulton, Lawrence, Sharp, Randolph, Greene, 
Izard, Independence, Jackson, Craighead, Poinsett, 
Mississippi, White, Woodruff, Cross, St. Francis, Crit- 
tenden, Prairie, Monroe, Phillips, and that portion of 
Desha lying north of White River, commanded by Brig.- 
Gen. D. P. Upham. 



\ 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 67 

"VI. District of the Southeast will comprise the 
counties of Arkansas, Ashley, Jefferson, Bradley, Drew, 
Chicot, and that portion of Desha lying south of White 
River, commanded by Col. Samuel Mallory. 

"VII. Commanders of the Southwestern, Southeast- 
ern, and Northeastern Districts will immediately proceed 
to occupy the counties that are under Martial Law, with 
sufficient troops to enforce the same. 

"VIII. In addition to the State Guards, they will 
organize the reserve militia, from which they are au- 
thorized to draft, in case a sufficient volunteer force can- 
not be obtained. 

"IX. A commanding officer of the Northwestern 
District will be announced in future orders. In the mean- 
time all officers of the State Guards in that District will 
complete the organization of their companies, and hold 
themselves in readiness to fill such details as may be 
made upon them. 

"X. .Officers and troops in counties not under mar- 
tial law must be subservient to the civil authorities, and 
in passing through such counties will in no way violate 
the rights of persons or property. 

"XL District Commanders will report all impor- 
tant action to these Headquarters. 

"By order of the Commander-in-Chief, 
" Keyes Danforth, 

"Adjutant-General." 

The General Assembly convened for its second ses- 
sion on the 17th of November, 1868. On the 24th of 
November I communicated to it my message, from which 
I quote as follows :^ 

"By the Constitution the duty devolves upon the Ex- 
ecutive 'to give to the General Assembly information, 
by message, concerning the condition of the State, and 
recommend such measures to their consideration as he 
may deem expedient.' 



68 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

'*It could not be expected that an extended message 
would be presented at this time. I can only make a brief 
reference to some of the most important interests of 
the State, and some suggestions for your consideration, 
respectfully referring you to the various reports for 
further information. 



CONDITION OF THE STATE 

"We are in the midst of civil commotion. 

"The policy of the United States Government in 
withdrawing its support and protection from us upon 
our re-admission into the Union has had the effect to 
some extent of placing us in a situation of great peril 
and difficulty. 

"With no greater resources or available means at 
our disposal than before our State was admitted (when 
a strong military force was deemed to be absolutely es- 
sential to preserve the Union element from those who 
had not forgotten their hatred to the old flag and their 
love for the 'lost cause'), we were at once compelled 
to depend upon ourselves for protection; to battle against 
difficulties well-nigh insurmountable in our weak condi- 
tion; to carry on, in the towns and villages and counties 
throughout the State, a warfare in the defense of our 
lives and for the cause of freedom. 

"The element opposed to the Government has be- 
come so much emboldened as to assume offensive opera- 
tions and to attempt the overthrow of the lawful author- 
ity in the State. A deep laid conspiracy was organized 
for this purpose, and the object was to be accomplished 
partly by the instrumentality of the treasonable or- 
ganization, having its ramifications in many parts 
of the State, which included in Its programme of 
operations assassinations, robberies, threats, and intimi- 
dations. 

"The fearful history of the last few months, with Its 
dark catalogue of crimes committed, will. In all proba- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 69 

bility, never be entirely disclosed. The publication of 
all the atrocities and outrages perpetrated would have 
endangered the lives of those giving information, and 
would doubtless have led to the destruction of some of 
them. 

"From the great mass of the accounts that have 
reached me I can only briefly, on the present occasion, 
refer to a few: 

"In Ashley County the sheriff was openly assaulted 
and personally abused. 

"The registrars were driven away. 

"The sheriff and clerk were compelled to resign and 
appoint deputies to save their lives. 

"Several colored men were taken out, beaten, and 
threatened to be hung. Several others missing, sup- 
posed to be killed. 

"Moses Dean and his wife found in the woods since 
that, hung. 

"A freedman, hauling cotton, was shot dead in the 
road. 

"In Columbia County the people were advised pub- 
licly to force the registrars to place their names on the 
registration books, and if the tax collectors should come 
to their houses, to send them out feet foremost. 

"Five men were killed in ten days. Three of them 
killed in the field, and rolled into one hole. 

"Aaron Hicks killed. Cause: being a Union man. 
No fair registration. Armed forces (Ku Klux) riding 
through the country. The sheriff resisted. 

"In Lafayette County there was an organized band 
of marauders. Several men were killed. Registrar fled 
to save his life. No civil law. 

"In Sevier County the sheriff was abused. A Union 
man murdered in his own house. Hill, a colored man, 
brutally murdered. Union men are sleeping in the woods, 
or driven out of the county. No fair registration. 
County officers notified to leave. 

"In Little River County, Willis and Andrews shot 



70 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

down upon the road, — murdered. Sheriff wounded and 
colored man killed. No law. No fair registration. Con- 
stant threats of assassination made. 

"In Monroe County, Hon. James M. Hinds, mem- 
ber of Congress, murdered upon the road. At the same 
time Hon. Joseph Brooks shot down and badly wounded. 
Other outrages reported. 

"In Crittenden County, Ku Klux killed six men in 
ten days. Other deaths reported. Many loyal men 
driven out of their homes. Hon. E. G. Barker attacked 
and badly wounded. Shot at on another occasion. The 
bullet and assassins held the county in terror. 

"In Woodruff County a premium is offered for the 
murder of Union men. The Ku Klux riding about the 
county. D. P. Upham and F. A. McClure shot down 
while riding along the road. Several freedmen killed. 
Officers cannot execute the law. 

"In Craighead County the rebels were preparing to 
fight. Captain Edwards shot down from the brush. 
Judge Carson's office destroyed by the Ku Klux, and he 
compelled to leave to save his life; dare not return to 
his family. 

"Capt. Simpson Mason murdered in Fulton County 
and several others killed. 

"In Conway County a court was broken up by a 
mob, county officers compelled to leave, many negroes 
killed and beaten; Ku Klux forces raised to oppose the 
law; State Guards forbidden to drill. 

"In White County assault made upon Hon. S. 
Wheeler with intent to kill, by two desperadoes; several 
colored men killed; Jordan A. Ball, white Union man, 
and his nephew, both murdered; four other white Union 
men killed; Ban Humphries (colored) killed for know- 
ing and reporting the leaders in the plot to murder Hon. 
S. Wheeler. 

"In Drew County deputy sheriff and negro tied to- 
gether and killed, a reign of terror inaugurated; men 
repeatedly threatened with death and many compelled to 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 71 

vote against their wishes. On the 17th instant Ku 
Klux took a colored preacher who has not been heard 
of since. 

"In these and other counties many other outrages and 
violations of the law have occurred. Men were driven 
from their homes; officers were forbidden to make ar- 
rests, and were compelled to abandon every effort to 
do so. 

"The bullet of the assassin, threats, and every species 
of intimidation were made use of to prevent the execu- 
tion of the law, and to rob the citizens of the rights and 
privileges of citizenship. A reign of terror was being 
inaugurated in our State which threatened to obliterate 
all the old landmarks of justice and freedom, and to bear 
us onward to anarchy and destruction. 

"In the demoralization of a large class of citizens of 
the State, in the utter disregard to law and order mani- 
fested in many localities, it is perfectly clear that a 
prompt and decided course of action is necessary. The 
loyal people have adopted as a watchword the motto, 
'Let us have peace' ; and now that the election is over it 
is urged that the past be forgotten, and the hope is ex- 
pressed that the murderer will cease his horrible trade, 
and that the violator of the law may possibly allow the 
law to be executed. 

"But this merciful programme is neither in ac- 
cordance with the demands of justice and right, nor a 
proper consideration of the welfare and prosperity of 
our State. The opposition to the law still continues. The 
rights of the citizens are still violated. It would need 
only another partisan excitement or great personal or 
social antagonism to develop again the full tide of wrong. 
There can be no permanent peace nor advancement in the 
future as a result of such a policy. 

"The majesty of the law should be vindicated. The 
assassin should be visited with a just retribution for his 
crime. The violator of the public peace should be pun- 
ished, and an officer of the law should be so protected 



72 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

and respected that no opposition whatever would 
be made hereafter to his executing the duties of his 
office. 

"The commonwealth is composed of three parts, — 
the citizen, the law, and the officers to execute the law. 
It is only when these parts work harmoniously that a 
healthy and vigorous constitution exists. If the officer 
fails in the discharge of his duty, he can be removed, 
and no detriment to the interests of the State or com- 
munity arise. If the law is unjust in any of its features, 
by proper representation and process it can be repealed 
and no serious difficulty occur; but if the citizen becomes 
vicious and corrupt, and violates his obligations and 
duties, then indeed a deadly virus is introduced into the 
system which can only be cured by the most powerful 
remedies, but which must be cured, or ruin and death 
will ensue. 

"Our whole system of government is based upon the 
rectitude, intelligence, and honesty of the citizen. Wher- 
ever these fail, wherever the citizen becomes thoroughly 
diseased politically, and all obedience to the law is given 
up, then our institutions become a failure and they will go 
out forever in darkness and gloom. 

"In the diseased condition of the body politic in a 
portion of this State I had no alternative but to allow 
the Infection to extend and increase until the whole 
should yield to its influence, or to proceed at once to the 
use of unusual and the most severe measures by pro- 
claiming martial law in those localities where the strong- 
est opposition to law and order prevailed. 

"By the advice and co-operation of the leading 
Union men in the State I proceeded to take this step. I 
have done so calmly and deliberately and I shall endeavor 
to execute it with all the resources at my command and 
all the energy I possess." 

The enumeration of conditions contained in my mes- 
sage was for the information of the Legislature, upon 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 73 

which it could base its approval or disapproval of my 
course, as the case might be. 

While the facts contained in that message, upon 
which I then based my action, constituted all I had to 
report at that time, events were then happening which, 
if known, would have constituted very important addi- 
tional reasons for my action. These events I shall now 
proceed to describe. 

ASSASSINATION OF DR. A. M. JOHNSON 

On the 24th day of August, 1868, the day before 
Dr. Johnson was assassinated, he wrote a letter to me, 
from which I quote as follows: 

"You will recollect the bitterness of feeling I repre- 
sented to you that existed in this County. On the night 
of the 1 8th eight or nine men disguised (I can name 
them all) went to the houses of the colored men on 
James Edrington's place, shot one man through the 
lungs, and beat several others nearly to death; shot at 
several others. They attacked the negroes about one 
o'clock at night when they were all asleep. They are 
the same men that burned the colored church here in 
May. The colored men have no arms, and sleep in the 
woods with their families every night. Unless some- 
thing is done we shall not get twenty-five votes. Our 
sheriff is as bad as the K. K. K. The Clerk and sheriff 
you appointed refused to serve, and we have no one I 
know of in the county that will act any better than the 
ones we have now. I stand picket on my life as regu- 
larly as the day and night come." 

It was not until some time later that the Hon. James 
A. Butler handed me a letter from Dr. Johnson's wife, 
containing a graphic description of the horrible tragedy, 
from which I quote as follows :^ 



74 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"Keytesville, Chariton Co., Mo., 

"October 12, 1868. 
"Hon. James A. Butler: 

"Hon. Sir: After several weeks' delay your very 
kind and sympathizing letter came to hand; and I assure 
you I appreciate and thank you for the motive which 
prompted you to write to one who has been so bitterly 
tried ! 

"You ask for the particulars of that terrible night. 
You shall have them, if I have the power to write them. 
August 25 the Doctor arrived at Osceola, on his return 
from the Convention. We proceeded to get ready to 
start for the North that night (the packet landed at 
night on the up trips). He was in a hurry to get off, 
for he had promised Governor Clayton to go into the 
canvass of the State. We were waiting, but fearing the 
boat would not land, the Doctor and a colored man that 
was going with us started down to the landing to signal it; 
when they had proceeded about twenty yards I heard a 
gun fired and a cry. I felt that it was my husband, and 
with a light in my hand I started after him (the moon 
had gone under a cloud), and there in the road I found 
my dying husband! I sat down in the dust and took his 
dear head in my arms; he breathed one last, long, shud- 
dering sigh and was at rest! O God! Such was the 
fate of one of the best, the noblest of men! Oh, could 
you have witnessed my anguish — have heard the fran- 
tic cries of my distracted children!" 

MURDER OF ALBERT H. PARKER 

About the last of March, 1870, Maj. F. M. Chris- 
man, an ex-Confederate officer and the Circuit Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction for the district in which 
the County of White was situated, conveyed to me the 
following information: That, a few days before, his 
official duties had called him to Searcy, White County. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 75 

Court was in session and the small hotel was so crowded 
as to cause him to be assigned to a room and bed with 
a young man by the name of John McCauly. During 
the night he was awakened by the sobs and groans of 
McCauly. When he asked what was the matter Mc- 
Cauly replied that there was a great load on his con- 
science, a load that had prevented him from sleeping 
for nearly a week, and that he feared he would become 
Insane unless he could In some way get relief. 

Chrlsman advised McCauly to confide his troubles 
In him, with the assurance that what he should tell would 
not be divulged to any one without his consent, where- 
upon the young man disclosed the circumstances of the 
murder of Albert H. Parker, perpetrated on or about 
October 14, 1868, by order of the Grand Cyclops of the 
Searcy Ku Klux den. 

Chrlsman told McCauly that I was a fair man and 
would treat him as leniently as possible, so he agreed 
that Chrlsman might Inform me of what he had told 
him and promised that he would not attempt to evade 
arrest. On receiving this information I took Immediate 
action by sending Adj.-Gen. Keyes Danforth, with a 
detail of the Governor's Guard, to White County with 
orders to arrest and bring to Little Rock the persons 
named in McCauly's confession to Chrlsman as having 
participated in the murder of Parker. I instructed Dan- 
forth to travel by night, and upon arrival In White 
County to place himself in communication with the Goad 
brothers, staunch ante-bellum Union men, and to obtain 
from them such information and assistance as would 
enable him to make the proper arrests; and then to pro- 
ceed by night as rapidly as possible to a point south of 
the boundary line between the counties of Pulaski and 
White, as In all probability as soon as it was known that 
the arrests had been made the rescue of the prisoners 



76 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

by Habeas Corpus proceedings, instituted in White 
County, would be attempted. 

This proved to be a wise precaution, for after Dan- 
forth had crossed the line the sheriff of White County 
appeared with a posse, and attempted to serve such a 
writ upon him, — a writ which Danforth of course dis- 
regarded. 

Adjutant-General Danforth was successful in arrest- 
ing William L. Edwards, John G. Holland, and John 
McCauly, who, with William Brundidge and LeRoy 
Burrow, had actively participated in the murder of 
Parker. Brundidge had removed to Texas and Burrow 
was a traveling man, supposed to be absent in Memphis, 
but he was really on his way home to White County. 
The orders for the murder and the detail to carry it into 
execution were issued by Gen. Dandridge McRae and 
Col. Jacob Frolich, who was the editor of the Searcy 
Record and also the Cyclops of the Searcy Ku Klux Den. 

Danforth reached Little Rock with his prisoners 
about midnight. I was at the county jail to receive 
McCauly, and by arrangement with the authorities he 
was assigned to a separate cell, with instructions that 
there should be no communication between him and the 
other prisoners. 

The incidents of the Parker murder, then told me 
by McCauly, were that night reduced to a sworn state- 
ment which, with all other papers necessary for the 
prosecution of the case, was handed to the Prosecuting 
Attorney, Gen. E. W. Gantt, to be used by him. When 
the cases were disposed of he returned to me certain 
papers, but this affidavit was not among them. How- 
ever, the McCauly affidavit of June 2, 1870, is of the 
same character and is confirmed by the affidavit of LeRoy 
Burrow.*^ McCauly's affidavit is as follows: 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 77 

"June 2, 1870. 

"John McCauly, sworn, says that I have been re- 
siding at Searcy, White Co. I Hved there from the first 
of September, 1868, until about last of December, 1868. 
When I was arrested in March, last, I was residing at 
Fairview in Independence County, Ark. My business 
has been clerking. I was clerking for Greer and Bau- 
cum in Searcy in fall of 1868. I was initiated in April, 
1868, at Searcy, into an organization known by outsiders 
as Ku Klux Klan and represented to me by three stars. 
I was living at Fairview in Independence County about 
25 miles from Searcy. I went to Searcy and was asking 
Lee Burrow about such organization, telling him I did 
not believe there was any such organization. Lee Bur- 
row said if I would stay until night he would show me 
that there was and would show me something that would 
make the hair rise on top of my head. At about 12 
o'clock same day I told Colonel Frolich I wanted to see 
the Ku Klux. He told me he would not show them to 
me until night, and I think asked me who told me about 
it. I told him Lee Burrow. I think Burrow told me 
Frolich knew about it — I met Lee Burrow that night and 
went with him to Colonel Frolich's office, the office of 
the White County Record, a newspaper edited by Colonel 
Frolich. I first had a preliminary oath administered to 
me by an unknown party — I am uncertain whether I was 
blindfolded at that time or not — I now think I must have 
been blindfolded before the first oath was administered. 
The oath was as follows : 

" 'You do solemnly swear In presence of Almighty 
God that you will never reveal anything that you 
may know or hereafter learn of the so-called Ku Klux 
Klan.' 

"The above Is, I think, the exact words of the oath. 
It Is the substance any way. I have administered the 
oath to others. I was acting as Adjutant-General for 
General McRae when I administered the oath, and or- 
ganizing other dens in White, Jackson, and Independence 



78 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Counties. After I took the above oath we were asked 
some questions, which were about as follows : 

"ist. Did you ever belong to the Federal Army? 

"2nd. Are you in favor of white men ruling the 
Government? Answer to this question expected to be, 
Tes.' 

"Those questions being answered satisfactorily, I was 
then ordered to kneel and take another oath; that oath 
was about as follows : We were sworn to obey all or- 
ders of all superior officers, that we would stand by and 
protect one another under all circumstances; to support 
only white men for office of profit or trust. After this 
oath was administered the blindfold was removed and 
I saw one man in the room with masque on. He was the 
one who had administered the oaths. Afterwards this 
man proved to be Colonel Frolich. He stepped outside 
the door and threw his masque off and came right back, 
and I knew his voice besides. I recognized in the room 
Lee Burrow, John P. Lewis, William Brundidge, Wil- 
liam Sewell, and one or two others whose names I do 
not recollect. These men I did not see have masques on 
that night; I understood that to be the first den in the 
State and the organization recently commenced in the 
State. Frolich was then Head Cyclops, that answers to 
about rank of Captain in Army. The objects of the or- 
ganization were explained by Frolich. He said it was a 
political organization of the old Confederate Army, — 
military in its nature as well as political. At these meet- 
ings and at raids all were expected to be armed and ready 
for any emergency. He gave us to understand that if we 
could not have justice by law we would have to take the 
law in our hands. I think it was stated that this must 
be so even if men had to be killed to bring this about. 
I afterward learned that justice meant justice in accord- 
ance with their own interpretation of what was right; I 
understood at the time that the present State Govern- 
ment was not administered in accordance with what they 
thought It should be, and was an object of contempt, and 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 79 

should be resisted whenever It could be so done. The 
meeting was adjourned without considering other Im- 
portant matters. This was In April, 1868. 

"About the first of August following I came to 
Searcy. It was the morning after Capt. Stephen Wheeler 
had been wounded — Mr. Sewell first told me about It. 
After I got In town some one told me John P. Lewis 
shot him. That evening I think I went to General Mc- 
Rae's house. Colonel Frolich went with me. I had 
previously been acting as Adjutant-General to McRae. 
We talked over the matter with McRae; McRae seemed 
distressed about Lewis' connection with the affair. We 
had before learned that Wheeler was not killed. The 
distress seemed to be caused by the fact that It was not 
successful and at the probability of the authorities find- 
ing out the perpetrators of the deed — McRae said he 
had ordered this not to be done. He said Frolich or 
Sewell who had ordered Lewis to do It were In fault — 
Lewis is brother-in-law to McRae. Lewis told me after- 
ward that he was ordered to do It by Sewell, who was 
Grand Majl of the Den, answering to ist Lieutenant of 
Army, and that J. Floyd Smith, his cousin, persuaded 
him to do It. That he did not want to do It. I after- 
ward heard that the order to kill Wheeler was first is- 
sued by General McRae, who afterward, when he found 
out who was to do it, countermanded the order. Lewis 
said he thought he had killed Wheeler. Lewis said they 
met Wheeler and Hicks In buggy, Lewis drew his pistol 
and Wheeler drew his and fired two shots at him. Lewis 
then fired one shot at him. When he fired at Wheeler, 
Wheeler threw his pistol on the ground and begged for 
his life; told Lewis to take his money but spare his life. 
Lewis said he would have both — Lewis ordered Wheeler 
out of the buggy and told Hill, who was with Lewis, to 
take charge of Wheeler. Hicks commenced to beg for 
his life; Lewis ordered him to drive his buggy out of the 
road and told him he did not want to hurt him, but If 
he did not hush he would kill him. Wheeler broke to 



8o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

run, Lewis ordered Hill to shoot him — Hill did not fire 
until Wheeler got 20 or 30 steps. Lewis told Hill to 
take charge of Hicks and he would kill Wheeler. He ran 
Wheeler some distance, shot at him twice, the third time 
he shot at Wheeler he fell. Lewis thought he had hit 
Wheeler in the back. As he was getting down to shoot 
Wheeler again. Hill came up to where he was. Lewis 
asked Hill where Hicks was: Hill said he was where he 
left him standing in road. Lewis told Hill to kill Wheeler 
and he would go after Hicks. He went to buggy. Hicks 
had cut the horse loose and left. He pursued him several 
miles; could not overtake him and came back — before he 
got back he met Hill. He threatened to kill Hill for 
letting Hicks get away — Hill begged for his life. They 
went back to where they left Wheeler and could not 
find him. I afterward heard Frolich, Sewell, and some 
others who I do not recollect speak of having Wheeler 
disposed of so he could not give in evidence, but don't 
know that any place was mentioned for this. 

"On or about the 14th day of October, 1868, LeRoy 
Burrow came to me after supper. He told me there was 
a man to be killed. I asked him who it was and what it 
was for. He said it was Captain Parker. He said 
Parker had got the secrets of the organization and had 
to be killed for self-protection, or to that effect. We 
got ready then. Mr. Burrow went off and returned 
again with Mr. Brundidge. We then came out of the 
store (Greer & Baucum). Mr. Edward D. Holland 
and Brundidge went off, but were to meet us at the 
Springs. Burrow and Brundidge were the two officers 
and they directed myself; and Lee Burrow went on to 
the Sulphur Springs about 150 yards from Court Square. 
We then met Mr. Holland, Edwards, and Brundidge. 
We sat down on the steps near the springs. I suppose 
we waited ten or fifteen minutes before Mr. Russell and 
Albert H. Parker came. Mr. Russell was in advance, 
passing over the steps. As Parker came up he made 
some remark about the weather. As he walked over 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 8i 

the steps Brundidge ordered Parker to hold on and make 
no noise or he would kill him, presenting his pistol at 
the same time. We all drew our pistols. It was star- 
light and Parker could see the party and their arms — 
Parker first tried to turn it off as though we were jok- 
ing, we were searching him for arms and he treated it 
as a joke. We found no arms. We then tied a hand- 
kerchief in his mouth, I do not recollect which one did 
it. We marched him right off toward the McConnaha 
place, about one-half to three-quarters of a mile southwest 
from town. Before we got there we stopped and put 
on our masques. Took the handkerchief out of his 
mouth; then asked him if he had ever seen any Ku Klux 
and told him we were Ku Klux. He said he had been 
looking for them some time. He wanted to join them. I 
think Brundidge said that he supposed he had been look- 
ing for them from the contents of a letter that he had 
written Mr. Pugh at Little Rock. We did not have the 
letter with us that I know of; Parker denied having writ- 
ten such a letter. We went on to the McConnaha place, 
not much if anything was said on the way. Mr. Bur- 
row and Brundidge told Parker he had but a short time 
to live, and if he had any confessions to make he had 
better be at it — Parker then acknowledged that he was 
then in the employ of the Governor as Detective. He 
said his reasons for being a spy were that he had killed 
a Federal Colonel in Texas and had come here and was 
arrested and through influence of friends he was released 
on condition that he would go to Searcy to ferret out 
the killing of Humphries. He pleaded for his life and 
told us if we would let him loose that he would leave the 
United States and we never would hear from him any 
more, or that he would go and kill Chrisman or any Rad- 
ical in White County we would say, if we would spare 
his life. Brundidge told him if he were to kill every 
radical in the State it would not save him. He talked a 
great deal, telling about his past life, etc., I cannot recol- 
lect all. I suppose we were there an hour or more. At 



82 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

last Brundidge or Burrow, I can't now say which, told 
Parker he had but a short time to live; If he wanted to 
pray, to say his prayers. He said he had never prayed 
in his life, and asked some one of the party to pray for 
him. We all kneeled and Mr. John G. Holland prayed 
for him. He is a member of a Church — I think the 
Baptist Church — after prayer we all got up, and Parker 
continued praying audibly. He prayed some little time. 
After he got up he was ordered to kneel near the well. He 
did so, his face toward us. Brundidge I think gave the 
order to fire. All fired, Parker fell. Parker breathed 
afterwards. Brundidge ordered some one of the party 
to shoot him again. Burrow said he bursted three caps 
at his head. His pistol did not go off. The others said 
Edwards shot him afterwards about his head. I heard 
the shot but did not see it. We put him in the well and 
put some puncheons on the well. I believe Frollch knew 
he was killed before he published an Editorial on the 
subject to the effect that Parker had left the Hotel with- 
out paying his bill, and that he was a good Democrat 
and that the Loyal League had had something to do with 
disposing of him — Frollch and McRae both knew of this 
murder and justified the men who did it. I talked with 
them about it myself after It was done. There was a 
meeting of the Den after Parker was killed — some one 
remarked that some of the parties had better leave, as 
White County would certainly be put under Martial Law. 
"William Brundidge, William L. Edwards, John G. 
Holland, LeRoy Burrow and myself were the party 
present at the killing of Albert H. Parker. I think James 
W. Russell brought Parker down by an understanding 
with the officer of our party, Russell came to the Springs 
with a bucket on his arm — I understood some one was to 
bring Parker to the Springs. Russell afterwards showed 
me Parker's letter to Pugh — it was the night we killed 
Parker. I was telling him what we had done to Parker. 
He showed me the letter and said he believed it was 
justifiable. I have seen, besides the names before men- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 83 

tioned, in the Den, B. D. Turner & Son, George Fau- 
cett, James Ridley, Henry Ridley, R. Paddy, John 
Moore, and many others. When there was any killing 
to be done it was to be talked over in the Den and re- 
ferred to a sort of Court of five, called Yahoos, and if 
they could not decide, it was to be left with the Com- 
manding Officer of the Den, or Post. If it was decided 
to kill, men were to be detailed to do it. The body of 
the order might not know who did it, unless they them- 
selves told. There was a by-law that if any one killed 
any one without orders from Yahoos or proper officers, 
it was punishable with death, upon decision of the Ya- 
hoos. Or if any one failed to kill when ordered or to 
obey the orders of superior officers it was punishable with 
death — I think it was punishable with death to disobey 
orders. I don't think there was a commanding officer 
of the Dens for the whole State, but that there was a 
commanding officer for each Congressional District. I 
have heard General Fagan's name mentioned as being 
a member of the Den. I organized the Den at Bates- 
ville. There were present and became members Albert 
Cravens, Joe Merriweather, Robert Weaver, Charley 
McGuin, H. H. Dufin, and others whose names I do not 
remember. We were said to be 7,000 strong in this dis- 
trict. General Adams succeeded McRae. Adams lived 
in the eastern part of the State; did not know him; did 
not meet him. I think McRae was relieved on account 
of want of nerve, energy, and competency. I understood 
that General Forrest of Memphis was the Commander 
of the Dens throughout the South — Colonel Frolich and 
others told me Forrest was the highest officer of the Dens 
in the South. I was in one raid just before the election 
in White County — ten or fifteen were in the party. The 
party went out about two miles, had masques on, pis- 
tols, etc. I think Russell was in command of this raid. 
We went to Bob Jones', called Coburn's black people and 
old man Holt's — we frightened them and told them they 
must vote the Democratic ticket and use their influence 



84 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

for It or they would be killed. One raid was made to 
Ed. Robbln's. I was not along. William Sewell broke 
the door down with a rail, took pistols and guns from 
the negroes. Another time they went to Tom Bass, 
colored. They threatened him. They also made a raid 
on old man Guin, and gave him a note or left It for him 
and told him if he did not leave they would kill him. 
I heard about these things — was not present. 

"(Signed) J. A. McCauly." 

I have affidavits^ from a number of other well- 
known members of the White County Ku Klux Klan 
which corroborate McCauly's affidavit, especially as to 
the murder of Parker and the attempted murder of State 
Senator Stephen Wheeler, but space prevents me from 
publishing them. 

On April 7, 1870, I received a telegram from the 
sheriff of Prairie County stating that a steamboat had 
just arrived at De Vall's Bluff with LeRoy Burrow as 
one of Its passengers. I Immediately ordered the sheriff 
to arrest him and bring hlnj to Little Rock for custody. 
Late that night the sheriff reported with the prisoner 
at the jail where I was In waiting. I had him assigned 
to a separate cell, where he was not permitted to com- 
municate with any of the other prisoners. 

The first words I said to him were: "Burrow, do 
you know the cause of your arrest?" He replied, "I do 
not, but wish to." Holding McCauly's affidavit In my 
hands I said that I would read to him some White County 
history, and when I had finished he would know whether 
it was true or not. When I had read the last words I 
asked him what he had to say about It. He grew pale, 
drew a long sigh, and exclaimed: "That's just the way it 
occurred!" 

I then turned him over to Judge Warwick, of the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 85 

Pulaski Criminal Court, who obtained from him the affi- 
davit heretofore referred to, which In the following ex- 
tract In Important particulars corroborates McCauly's 
affidavit: 

"The first oath I took did not indicate the character of 
the order. I took that and afterwards Frollch admin- 
istered the second oath to me, which was about as follows : 
I swore to forever oppose the Radical party — to that 
end we would work to place Democrats In power 
throughout the south. That we would obey all orders 
from superior officers; that we would assist and pro- 
tect each other under any and all circumstances. The 
penalty for disobeying this oath was death. 

"We were then instructed by Colonel Frollch that the 
order was said to be political in character, but was mili- 
tary In Its organization; that it was not more nor less 
than the re-organization of the Confederate Army ; the 
object was to carry the elections, and to overturn the 
radical government, and when we were sufficiently or- 
ganized we would take the reins of government Into our 
own hands. 

"There was to be no name to the organization, but It 
was represented by three stars and known to the outside 
world as the Ku Klux Klan. . , . 

"We were thus enabled to swear. If it became neces- 
sary, that we did not belong to the Ku Klux Klan and 
to evade the law. . . . After awhile the order was used 
to Intimidate radical voters by raids In masques, etc., and 
by threatening with violence." 

The reader will naturally ask what finally became of 
the White County prisoners charged with these crimes. 

Sol F. Clark as attorney for the accused instituted un- 
successful Habeas Corpus proceedings in Little Rock and 
with the exception of McCauly and Burrow, who had 
turned State's evidence, the prisoners were refused bail 



86 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

and committed to jail, where they remained on account 
of various legal delays until January, 1871. 

In the testimony given by Burrow it was disclosed that 
General Dandridge McRae and Colonel Jacob Frolich 
were the instigators of the murder of Parker. Imme- 
diately after this became known Colonel Frolich, who 
was the editor of the Searcy Record^ sold his paper and 
both he and McRae became fugitives from justice. Fro- 
lich did not stop until he had crossed the line into Can- 
ada. Where McRae took refuge I have never known. 
On April 22, 1870, I charged them with being acces- 
sories to the murder of Parker and offered a reward of 
$500 for each of them, but without success. 

Some time during the winter of 1870-71 a political 
deal was made by the friends of McRae and Frolich with 
Joseph Brooks and his faction wherein the Democrats 
agreed not to nominate a State ticket for the election of 
1872, and that they would give their support to Brooks 
and his followers for state offices. They further agreed 
to combine with them for the nomination and election of 
a Liberal National ticket with Greeley and Brown as can- 
didates. In return for this Democratic support Brooks 
and his faction were to find the means for acquitting the 
White County prisoners. 

The Daily Republican of September 13, 1871, spoke 
of this alliance in the following language: "A part of 
the agreement between the 'Brindletails' and the Democ- 
racy last winter was, as a matter of good faith, that the 
White County prisoners should be released and ac- 
quitted." 

After a protracted absence, during which time the 
arrangement I have spoken of was perfected, McRae and 
Frolich returned to the State and gave bond for their 
appearance in court. The other prisoners were imme- 
diately released on bail. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 87 

As the time for the trial drew near the plan for their 
acquittal developed, John Whytock, who was judge of 
the circuit that included White County, was slated for the 
position of Chief Justice on their combined ticket. To 
make possible the election of a special judge to try these 
cases he went north under the pretext of visiting relatives. 
Sol F. Clark, who had been the former attorney for the 
principals in the Habeas Corpus proceedings, was selected 
to fill Judge Whytock's place. Immediately after his elec- 
tion the case was called for trial. The prosecuting at- 
torney had allowed his witnesses to become scattered and 
none were present to testify. He moved for a continu- 
ance, but was overruled. Under these conditions the 
farcical trial resulted in a verdict of "not guilty." 

So the ends of justice were defeated and another evi- 
dence given that the civil laws of the State could not be 
enforced against members of the Ku Klux organization. 

The great mistake I made was in entrusting the trial 
of these murderers to the civil law. When the informa- 
tion of Parker's murder came to me I should have de- 
clared martial law in White County, and Jacob Frolich 
and Dandridge McRae should have been included in my 
order of arrest. Their trial would then have been con- 
ducted by a military commission and justice would have 
been meted out. 

This, no doubt, would have precipitated war in the 
State, but I am convinced that open warfare would have 
been preferable to the stealthy methods of murder em- 
ployed by the Ku Klux Klan. 

It was a monstrous proposition that five men, called 
Yahoos, should have been vested with the power to seal 
the fate of an American citizen, and take the life of any 
man doomed by their decision, and then, by the very 
strength of the organization on whose behalf they acted, 
escape the consequences of their awful crimes. 



88 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

I do not suppose that history anywhere records such 
conditions as were entailed by this self-instituted organi- 
zation, which was composed of men who had never sur- 
rendered to the United States Government. 

CHARGING KU KLUX CRIMES TO REPUBLICANS 

The attempt to shift the burden of guilt from our 
own shoulders to those of absolutely innocent persons 
is the most despicable trait of human depravity. Yet I 
shall now proceed to give evidences of a well settled 
plan of the Democratic party in Arkansas to shift Ku 
Klux outrages upon Republicans, and often upon ignorant 
and innocent negroes. 

THE ASSASSINATION OF BAN HUMPHRIES 

In the affidavit of LeRoy Burrow, heretofore re- 
ferred to and abundantly substantiated, the following 
language appears: 

"I was gone when Ban Humphries was assassinated. 
Brundidge told me, however, that he in company with 
James W. Russell and Howell Bradley, under orders 
from Superior officers — did not say what officers — killed 
Ban Humphries. It was generally understood by the 
Den that Humphries was killed because he was a leading 
and influential radical colored man in the county. Brun- 
didge told me he shot Humphries." 

This crime was committed about midnight on Au- 
gust 28, 1868. On September i, 1868, the following 
letter appeared in the columns of the Gazette: 

"Searcy, August 29, 1868. 
"Editors Gazette: About midnight last night a hor- 
rible murder was committed in our town. A negro named 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 89 

Ban Humphries was taken from his house and shot 
through the head. The citizens in the neighborhood 
were aroused and went to the place immediately, but no 
clue to the perpetrators of the act could be had. The 
negro lived about an hour, but was unconscious. 

"The citizens have called a meeting for 2 o'clock to- 
day to take steps to put a stop to acts of this kind. 

"There is no suspicion resting upon any one par- 
ticularly, but it is believed that Radical Loyal Leaguers, 
negroes or whites, did the dark deed. The community 
arrives at this conclusion from the following facts and 
circumstances: 

"Ban was in 1861, '62, and '63 in the Confederate 
Army as a servant. He was a very zealous rebel and 
used to boast of the many battles and skirmishes he was 
engaged in. After the war it was generally believed he 
was acting with the radical party and was a member of 
the Loyal League ; but he took no active part and was gen- 
erally very quiet. A short time since, he, with many other 
negroes in the county, caused notices to be circulated that 
they would meet to-night (August 29) in Searcy to or- 
ganize a colored Seymour and Blair Club, of which it 
was reported he would be an active member. These 
facts drive to the conclusion that he was put away by 
members of his league to prevent the betrayal of their 
plans, which they feared. 

"The citizens are desperately indignant, and I believe 
if the perpetrator could be found it would be impossi- 
ble to prevent his execution by a mob. The Democratic 
negroes are so terrified that it is not believed that they 
will venture to form their club. This is a part of their 
programme. How long are these things to continue?" 

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF CAPT. E. G. BARKER 

On September 5, 1868, about a week after the at- 
tempt upon the life of Captain Barker, so graphically 
described by Col. E. M. Main on pages 135-136, an 



90 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

editorial was published by the Gazette, from which I 
quote as follows : 

"... It is intimated by a Memphis contemporary 
that the less the radical press says about the assassina- 
tion of one of these public functionaries, the better. A 
gross interference with the social affairs of a peaceable 
colored family is hinted at. . . . The cause that led to 
the sound drubbing given to another member, and the 
shooting of Barker through the window, are unknown to 
us. We hope to learn in the course of time, and when 
we do we shall give the public the benefit of the facts, 
whatever they may be. We feel justified, however, in 
saying that this man Barker had the quality of making 
himself hated in such a degree that it is the second time 
he has been shot by some unknown person, — once in 
Ashley, southeastern county, and lately in Crittenden 
County, in the northeast. He is the same person who 
was suspected as a confederate in the robbery of the 
government of its revenue at DeVall's Bluff a year or 
two since. . . ." 



THE ASSASSINATION OF CAPT. SIMPSON MASON 

The following extract is from the Batesville Times, 
— an extract that appeared in the Gazette, October i, 
1868, — both Democratic papers: 

"... Mason was a man of bad character, and was 
accused of several murders. He was probably killed by 
parties who entertained feelings of revenge for some of 
his past acts, and who took advantage of the unsettled 
condition of affairs to kill him, hoping that it might be 
attributed to political animosity, and thus shield them- 
selves. He was president of the board of registration 
in Fulton County, and we have no doubt the radical press 
and party will attribute his death to political causes, and 
endeavor to make political capital out of the matter." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 91 

From the Batesville Republican: 

"The deceased (Mason) always possessed the un- 
bounded confidence of the State and national authori- 
ties, and at the time of his death filled three positions 
of trust: agent of the freedmen's bureau; president of 
the board of registration of Fulton County, and captain 
of a company of State Guards." 

The following extract is from an editorial entitled 
"War in North Arkansas" that was published in the 
Gazette, October 6, 1868: 

"... Mason was likewise a desperado. Long 
after the war closed he remained in the field to rob, steal, 
and destroy. As late as '67 information was sent by 
responsible gentlemen to the civil and military authori- 
ties in this city relative to his unwarrantable conduct, 
and asking for protection. Full particulars of affairs 
in that section have not yet been received, but the rumor 
is prevalent that Captain Bryant was instrumental in 
causing the death of Mason, and for the very best of 
reasons." 

ASSASSINATION OF GEN. T. C. HINDMAN 

On the 27th day of September, 1868, about 8 P. M., 
General Hindman was shot through a window of his 
home at Helena, Arkansas, and killed. In reference to 
this murder I insert the following extract from the Mem- 
phis Appeal, which was published by the Gazette on 
October 4, 1868: 

"... From information that we have received 
otherwise, there is not the shadow of doubt but that the 
deed was the work of the hellish Loyal League. General 
Hindman has been, since the close of the War, an ardent 
supporter of the democratic cause, and a bitter foe and 



92 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

denouncer of radicals and radicalism. They have now, 
no doubt, wreaked the vengeance that they have so often 
sworn, and in a true radical manner, — by the hand of 
an assassin. More blood smokes upon the altar of our 
desolated south and cries aloud for vengeance." 

From the Daily Gazette, November 21, 1868, copied 
from the Memphis Avalanche, November 3 : 

"startling revelations 
"assassination of general hindman planned by 

radicals 

"... The past few days have produced revelations 
which firmly fix the crime of this horrid murder upon 
not an individual member of the radical party in Ar- 
kansas, but upon the leaders of that foul organization 
themselves. The efforts of detectives have developed, be- 
yond possibility of doubt, that the assassination of Gen- 
eral Hindman was planned in Little Rock by leading rad- 
icals and executed by their orders. . . ." 

From an editorial, "General Topics," published in 
the Gazette, March 23, 1869: 

"Tuesday, the i6th, in the jail at Helena a negro 
confined therein boasted that he 'killed Tom Hindman.' 
This was made known by the prisoners and he was taken 
out and sworn. He stated that Porter (another of the 
negro prisoners) killed him but he had a part in the 
murder, and that it was a part of a plan that had been 
concocted for revenging the lynching of a negro rav- 
isher and murderer shortly before that. The plan as it 
had been agreed upon was to murder certain citizens and 
burn Helena. Charles Porter was assigned the part of 
killing General Hindman and others to several similar 
atrocities. Porter carried out the arrangement on his 
part. Thus a gifted and illustrious man, in the midst 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 93 

of his family, ardent with the hopes of the future, fell 
by the hand of an unknown assassin whom he had never 
injured but proposed to benefit. The negro who wound- 
ed Sheriff Turner so terribly was one of the original 
gang, but owing to the attempt to arrest him, had to 
show his hand prematurely. This act having placed the 
citizens in a state of preparation for similar outrages 
alone prevented the consummation of the diabolical 
scheme. But its principal object was accomplished, — 
the assassination of Hindman. Wonder if there are not 
those in Little Rock, not of the Ku Klux Klan, who could 
tell why it was that the murder of Hindman must be 
accomplished, notwithstanding the rest of the scheme 
should fail? Porter and eight other negroes have been 
arrested." 

From the Gazette, March 25, 1869: 

"The Helena Monitor of the 20th says: 'In the re- 
corder's court on the occasion of the examination of 
Grant, as witness in the Hindman assassination case, the 
prisoner, Charles Porter, alleged by Grant to have com- 
mitted the deed, was placed in a crowd of other negroes 
and the witness asked to identify the accused, which he 
failed to do, stating that the Porter he meant was not 
In the crowd. Porter was thereupon promptly dis- 
charged. He was an honest-looking negro, of middle 
age. The witness Is a mere boy and doesn't seem to 
know what he Is talking about. He still Insists upon his 
charge against Charles Porter, and Is held In custody, 
awaiting further developments. Perhaps his man may 
yet be found.' " 

Up to this occurrence the roll of assassinations, dur- 
ing the period I am describing, contained the name of 
no prominent Democrat, and the opportunity to charge 
this murder to the Republicans was received by the Demo- 
crats with much satisfaction. 



94 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

I watched the case with great interest, and on October 
23, 1868, I offered a reward of $1,000 for the appre- 
hension and conviction of the murderer or murderers. 
The question may be asked, "Why was this reward de- 
layed so long?" My answer is that I did not wish to 
offer inducements for the conviction of innocent people, 
and I awaited the results of the judicial investigation of 
the charges against the eight negroes, which I believed 
to be a mere pretext to sacrifice upon the altar of jus- 
tice an innocent and helpless victim, and thus quiet fur- 
ther investigations. 

I was informed by the Prosecuting Attorney that 
all the efforts to shift the responsibility for this crime 
upon the Republicans were mere inventions, instigated, 
as was believed by many, by Mrs. Hindman's brother, 
the author of the following card that was published in 
the Gazette, December i, 1868: 

"a card from general hindman's brother-in-law 
"Helena, Ark., November 11, 1868. 

"Editors Commercial: In the telegraphic columns 
of your paper dated the 6th of November appeared a 
St. Louis dispatch of November 5, stating that a son of 
the late General Hindman was in the city (St. Louis), 
and that the general was assassinated by his brother-in- 
law just after he (Hindman) had filed a petition for 
divorce from his wife. 

"Your dispatch contains two demonstrable lies; the 
first, in respect to the deceased's son arriving in St. Louis. 
He left but two sons, the oldest but eight years of 
age, and both are now with their mother in this place. 
The second; as to his having filed a petition of 
divorce, which is false, as the records of the court here 
will show. The third statement in the dispatch charges 
his assassination upon his brother-in-law, and refers, as 
I take it, to me, in consequence of certain rumors put 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 95 

afloat by lying radical conspirators in this State, to cover 
their own guilt. I now denounce the authors of the 
report connecting my name with the murder of my 
brother-in-law, Gen. T. C. Hindman, as liars and slan- 
derers, and I demand of you, as a matter of right, to fur- 
nish me the name of the author of the dispatch alluded 
to or the reliable authority spoken of, and ask you as a 
matter of justice to insert this card in your columns. 

"Respectfully, 

"Cameron N. Biscoe." 

A few years ago I was informed by Judge Stephen- 
son, a prominent citizen of Helena, that a petition for a 
divorce from his wife, the sister of C. N. Biscoe, had 
been drawn up for Hindman by Judge Horner, Hind- 
man's attorney, and placed in his safe to be filed the 
next day, which of course Hindman's assassination that 
night prevented. Judge Stephenson said that among 
the prominent citizens of Helena this fact was gener- 
ally known. It is to be observed that Mr. Biscoe, author 
of the above card, does not deny the existence of the 
petition, but merely alleges that it had not been filed. 

General Hindman, at the close of the Civil War, 
sought refuge in the Republic of Mexico. Upon his 
return in 1866 he settled in Helena, Ark. As late as 
May 28, 1867, he did not hesitate to attend a mass meet- 
ing at Helena, which was largely attended by Republi- 
cans, white and black, and which was presided over by 
Dr. Thomas Smith, a Republican, and afterward 
Superintendent of Public Instruction under my adminis- 
tration. 

To show the views Hindman entertained on the ques- 
tions of reconstruction and political partisanship, I insert 
the following extract from the Gazette of June 1 1, 1867, 
reporting the proceedings of said meeting: 



96 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"... Pending the report of the committee on reso- 
lutions, Gen. T. C. Hindman, being called for, addressed 
the meeting, advising the citizens of the county, not dis- 
franchised by the acts of congress, to register and enter 
sincerely and honestly into the work of reconstructing 
the state under the law which disfranchised himself and 
men of his class, — not because he believed that a better 
might not have been framed, but because it is the best 
we can get. He is willing to plant himself on the con- 
gressional plan fairly, squarely, and honestly — but op- 
poses confiscation — favors the devotion of all our ener- 
gies to the building up and repairing the losses of our 
country, rather than engaging in a political crusade; no 
good man but desires the prosperity of the people among 
whom his lot is cast recommends a united vote, without 
party contest. . . ." 

At no time during General Hindman's career in Ar- 
kansas was he considered a "violent" partisan, and up 
to the date of his assassination to the best of my knowl- 
edge he held no political position and took no promi- 
nent part in organizing the Democratic Party. He was 
inclined to be independent in his views, and he did not 
always fall in with the programme of the Democratic 
leaders. I know of no citizen of Helena, Ark., or indeed 
of the whole State, except perhaps Mr. Biscoe, who now 
maintains that Hindman's assassination was of a politi- 
cal character. 



ASSASSINATION OF CONGRESSMAN JAMES HINDS 

The assassination of Congressman James Hinds, and 
the attempted assassination and wounding of State Rep- 
resentative Joseph Brooks, occurred in Monroe County, 
October 22, 1868, while they were going to a Republican 
meeting to be held six miles from Indian Bay, where 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 97 

they had been previously billed to speak. While they 
were traversing a thickly wooded part of the road 
George W. Clark, a citizen of Monroe County, ap- 
peared on the highway, mounted and armed with a 
double-barrelled shot-gun. He Immediately shot Hinds, 
killing him almost Instantly, and with the other barrel 
wounded Brooks. 

On the following day, the 23d, the news of this oc- 
currence came to me through a telegram from the sheriff 
of Monroe County, which read as follows : ^ 

"Indian Bay, Ark., Oct. 22, 1868, 

"Via Clarendon, Oct. 23. 
"Governor Clayton : Brooks and Hinds were shot 
at 2 o'clock P. M. to-day, from the brush. Hinds lived 
two hours; Brooks slightly wounded. Send metallic cof- 
fin per Steamer Liberty, Saturday. Mrs. Hinds' ad- 
dress. East Greenwich, Washington County, New York. 
"Frederick P. Wilson, 

"Sheriff Monroe County." 

Two days after the assassination, on October 24, 
1868, the following editorial appeared In the Gazette: 

"Information reached this city on yesterday of the 
murder of James Hinds and the wounding of Brooks, of 
Helena, near Indian Bay, In Monroe County. If true 
at all, we believe that the deed was perpetrated by the 
radicals themselves for effect on the presidential election 
north. That party Is resting under a heavy onus. They 
plan and execute the majority of the outrages perpetrated 
In the State for the purpose referred to. The false re- 
ports constantly sent abroad, and the utter failure of the 
authorities to bring any one to justice would seem to cor- 
roborate this view. The announcement by the northern 
press that a 'late loyal member of congress had been 



98 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

assassinated while peaceably riding along the road' would 
undoubtedly have its effect among those not better in- 
formed. Another strong motive for removing one or 
both of these men who are the favorites among the radi- 
cal negroes would be the securing of their position of in- 
fluence with this strong political element by some com- 
petitor, and the excitement that would be produced on 
the minds of the ignorant members of the Loyal League. 
At all events the only class that could possibly reap any 
benefit from such a deed would be the Clayton Govern- 
ment in Arkansas, and the radical party north, while it 
could only prove hurtful to the interests of democracy 
at home and abroad if either instigated or winked at by 
them. It is not to the interest of any democrat or promi- 
nent citizen of Arkansas to harm a single hair of any 
man's head. We deplore the occurrence, which appears 
to be true. 

"It will be remembered that Hinds' congressional 
district was gerrymandered by his own party in the last 
legislature for the express purpose of throwing the county 
in which he resided (Pulaski) into a white district, thus 
overslawing him. Brooks was a prominent candidate for 
the United States Senate against B. F. Rice, the suc- 
cessful candidate. Hinds possessed great popularity with 
the negroes, and Brooks is undoubtedly the ablest man of 
his party in the State, though not popular with it. We 
are satisfied that the deeds were perpetrated at the insti- 
gation of the radical leaders to get rid of troublesome 
competition in the party and for political capital north. 
No possible benefit would have inured to the democratic 
party from the murder of these two men, as they had 
both been shelved, politically, by their own party. For 
this reason they were discontented and were making a 
canvass for no other purpose than to array the mass of 
the negro population against the central managers. Rice 
& Company. They were capable of doing them great 
injury. Hinds, just before his departure, had gone open- 
ly about the streets of Little Rock, asking to be told how 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 99 

he could get into the Ku Klux organization. He 
said he understood the organization was instituted for 
kilhng off the scoundrels of the radical party; that he 
knew numbers of them who deserved killing and wanted 
to join the Ku Klux to aid in the extermination of Rice 
& Company. Brooks was equally indignant but enter- 
tained deeper resolves in silence." 

On the day previous to the murder, doubtless in 
anticipation of what was to follow the next day, a "Peace 
Meeting" was held at Indian Bay in Monroe County. 
George W. Clark was made secretary of this meeting, 
and he was also secretary of the Monroe Democratic 
Central Committee. "Peace Meetings" were often the 
precursors to Ku Klux outrages ! 

The day after the murder the coroner's jury, com- 
posed of members of both political parties, rendered a 
verdict of which the following is a copy: ^^ 

"The said James Hinds came to his death by wounds 
inflicted on him by shot discharged from a double-bar- 
relled shot gun, in the hands of George W. Clark." 

ASSASSINATION OF MAJOR ANDREWS, LIEUTENANT 
WILLIS, AND AN UNKNOWN COLORED MAN 

The Republican in its issue of November 2, 1868, 
published the following extract from a private letter 
relating the circumstances in connection with the murder 
of Major Andrews, Lieutenant Willis, and an unknown 
colored man: 

"Judge Searle, Jake Townsend, and McWhorter 
came in here last night with the sad intelligence that 
Major Andrews and Lieutenant Willis had been assassi- 
nated by Baker and his damnable Ku Klux gang. An- 
drews, Willis, and the sheriff were going to Andrews' 



loo THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

plantation and were bushwhacked by these cowardly vil- 
lains at the crossing of Walnut Bayou. Sheriff wounded. 
Baker's gang had a plot laid to murder Searle, Town- 
send, and McWhorter, but they got wind of the affair, 
took another road and came here. This morning Town- 
send, Searle, Casey, McWhorter, Taninon, and myself 
started for Rocky Comfort to collect facts in the case, 
etc., but learned that Baker had about one hundred men, 
and was looking for us. Two of Baker's gang followed 
Searle and party to this place, and left to-day at 1 1 
A. M." 

In this connection I quote as follows from the official 
report of Col. J. E. Tourtelotte,^^ of the United States 
Army, who was sent by the General in command of the 
District of Arkansas to investigate conditions In south- 
west Arkansas : 

"I found that P. J. Andrews, H. F. Willis, and one 
negro, name unknown, had been murdered. A coroner 
had held an Inquest over the bodies of Andrews and 
Willis, but no inquest was held over the body of the 
negro. At the time of my arrival the said coroner was 
absent In Van Buren; the only witness (Mr. Standal) 
before the coroner was absent, said to be In Little Rock, 
and the papers showing the proceedings before the cor- 
oner could not be found, but it is supposed they were in 
the possession of the coroner at Van Buren. 

"From witnesses, however, not sworn before the cor- 
oner, and from the statements of persons who conversed 
with Mr. Standal, I am able to make the following state- 
ment: 

"Between 8 and 9 o'clock of the 24th ultimo (Octo- 
ber) Mr. Standal, sheriff of Little River County, was 
a few miles from Rocky Comfort in company with P. J. 
Andrews, Assistant United States Assessor, and H. F. 
Willis, agent of the bureau of A. F. & A. L. 

"Mr. Standal was on horseback and a little In ad- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS loi 

vance of the others, who were riding in a light buggy, 
drawn by two horses, one belonging to Mr. Andrews 
and the other belonging to Mr. Willis. The said per- 
sons were proceeding toward Rocky Comfort when a 
party of men, supposed to be seven in number, stepped 
from the bushes by the roadside and ordered Mr. Standal 
to halt, dismount, and give up his pistol. All this Mr. 
Standal did. One of assaulting party then was left to 
watch Mr. Standal while the others ordered Messrs. 
Andrews and Willis, who at that time came up, to halt 
and deliver their weapons. Some altercation ensued 
when the said party fired upon Messrs. Andrews and 
Wilhs, and Mr. Standal started to run. Two shots, one 
tearing his coat and the other his hat, were fired after 
Mr. Standal, who succeeded in escaping. 

"About 2 o'clock P. M. of the same day Captain 
Hazeldine, of the State militia, who was drilling a com- 
pany of negroes at Rocky Comfort, receiving notice of 
an assault upon Messrs. Andrews, Willis, and Standal, 
immediately marched to the scene of the murder and 
found said Messrs. Andrews and Willis and a negro 
(name unknown) dead. . . . 

"About 3 o'clock on the same day five men, mounted 
and leading three horses belonging to Messrs. Andrews, 
Willis, and Standal, came up to a young man named 
McCreary who was herding horses in Red River bottom 
and asked him if he sold horses to Scott's militia. He 
answered that he did sell horses to them, and to any 
others who wished to purchase. They then arrested the 
said McCreary and threatened to hang him. A negro 
then came up to the party, one of whom fired upon him, 
wounding him severely. The said party of mounted 
men proceeded to Elliott's Ferry, on Red River, which 
they crossed to the south side, first releasing McCreary 
and ordering him to go home. 

"On the evening of October 26, 1868, a citizen of 
Little River County met, about three miles from Rich- 
mond, Ark., eight horsemen, one of whom was mounted 



102 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

on the horse belonging to Mr. Standal. Once, at least, 
since the murder of Mr. Andrews has his horse been rid- 
den through the town of Richmond. The persons rid- 
ing and having in possession the horses of Messrs. An- 
drews and Standal were strangers and cannot be 
identified by the citizens and old residents who saw 
them. . . ." 

The assassination of Willis and Andrews was actu- 
ated by a double motive: first, the unpopularity of 
officers of the Freedmen's Bureau, whose duty it was 
to protect the newly emancipated negro in his labor 
contracts, a disposition having been manifested by many 
of the slave-holders to defraud him in the settlement of 
his accounts; second, the desire to possess themselves of 
the horses and other property of the murdered men. 
These reasons were stimulated by the political unpopu- 
larity of the victims, both of whom were prominent Re- 
publicans. 

As a matter that may be of interest to my reader, I 
here insert a description of an incident that occurred 
during the prevalence of the Ku Klux Operations in 
Arkansas. 

I would first say that I was not at that time unaware 
of the intense hatred I had aroused by my determination 
to suppress, so far as lay in my power, the lawlessness 
and outrages in the State. The men who were daily com- 
mitting these deeds of violence asked nothing but the 
chance to remove me from their path, but I did not deem 
it expedient to maintain more than an ordinary watchful- 
ness. Assassins are cowards, and I am convinced that it 
was my treatment of them as such that preserved my life, 
not only during the days of the Ku Klux, but also in later 
years when political animosities have been extreme. 

One night, having been detained at the Executive 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 103 

Office by urgent official business, about midnight I left 
on foot for my home. As I emerged from the front 
door of the Capitol I noticed on the opposite side of 
Main Street a man watching the entrance referred to. 
When he saw me he turned suddenly away and dis- 
appeared in one of the side streets. As I passed down 
Markham Street, feeling very much fatigued, I went 
into the saloon of Hornerbrook and Townsend to get 
a stimulant. While I was there I saw on the opposite 
side of the room three young men with their heads close 
together. Their glances in my direction indicated that 
I was the subject of their conversation. I immediately 
left. 

It was a beautiful night with a full moon casting 
her lights and shadows everywhere. As the side alleys 
entered at right-angles to the street I was traversing, 
the dark shadows — where the alley terminated with a 
house on the south side — made it very easy for a per- 
son lurking there to spring out and perpetrate an act 
of violence upon anyone passing along the sidewalk. 
As a precautionary measure, I took the middle of the 
street, and I had not proceeded far when I heard the 
patter of feet behind me. Looking back, I saw three 
men running rapidly toward me. 

I happened just then to be at a point where two 
streets intersected. The lot on the southeast corner 
was enclosed on the street side with a high plank fence 
which cast a dark shadow on the sidewalk. I had only 
time to place my back against this fence, where I was 
concealed by its shadow, cock my revolver, and await 
events. Very soon the men came up and halted. One 
remarked, "It was here I saw him last." Another said 
that I had perhaps turned the corner and taken another 
street, equally direct, to my residence. The third man 
suggested that they continue their chase at full speed 



104 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

in the direction they were going, so as to arrive at my 
house before I reached it. They immediately acted on 
his suggestion; whereupon I took the opposite direction 
to pohce headquarters, from whence, with a sufficient 
escort, I went to my home and found the servants in 
great turmoil. They said that about two hours before 
a horseman had posted himself on the opposite side of 
the street, and that his attention was directed toward my 
house. They also said that a short time before my 
arrival three men had come running to the house, and 
after they had consulted with the horseman he had fired 
three shots from his revolver, whereupon they had all 
scattered. 

The firing of the pistol by the horseman was evi- 
dently a signal to others engaged in the plot, stationed 
elsewhere in the city, to disperse. It was evident that 
they were pursuing me. What their ultimate purpose was 
is a matter of conjecture. 

After this incident I made no more nightly passages 
to and from my house without a sufficient escort. 

In closing the description of the Ku Klux outrages, I 
will here state that there were no successful efforts made 
by the civil authorities to arrest, much less to prosecute, 
the perpetrators of the crimes referred to. This may be 
explained, first, by the fact that the Ku Klux terrorized 
the officers whose duty it was to execute the laws; second, 
by the ease with which one or more members of the 
Ku Klux organization could get themselves summoned 
to serve on the juries; third, by the inactivity of officers 
who were either inefficient or who themselves belonged 
to the organization. 

It proved to be absolutely impossible for the State 
authorities, in the face of the ingenious Ku Klux means 
to block their operations, to bring any member of the 
Klan to justice through ordinary criminal proceedings, 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 105 

no matter what the crime might be with which he was 
charged. Under these conditions, the reader will under- 
stand how the growth of political crime would be im- 
mensely stimulated. 

1 will here add that space will not permit an enumer- 
ation and description of the hundreds of negroes who 
were killed and otherwise outraged by the unrestrained 
Ku Klux nightriders. 

The question resolved itself into a plain proposition: 
Should the Ku Klux organization rule Arkansas, or 
should its members be made subservient to the laws of the 
State? Of course the Ku Klux set up no claim to Con- 
stitutional authority; but declaring that the Government 
of Arkansas was "unconstitutional, null, and void," and 
that no man was bound to respect it, the Klan assumed 
powers that plunged at least thirteen counties of the State 
into conditions of anarchy. As a last resort the declara- 
tion of Martial Law and the suspension of the Writ of 
Habeas Corpus became inevitable. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER V 

^ See McCauly's affidavit, pp. 79-80. 

2 See pp. 88-89. 

^ Daily Republican^ November 6, 1868. 

^ Daily Republicarij November 17, 1868. 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 15-19. 

^ Daily Republican, October 30, 1 868. 

' See p. 85. 

* James M. Ridley, Anthony K. Gibbons, James M. Brun- 
didge, William N. Slack, James McCauly, Columbus Nichols, 
and Robert P. Weaver. 

^ Daily Republican, October 24, 1868. 

'^'^ Daily Republican, October 29, 1 868. 

^^ Arkansas Gazette, December 2, 1868. 



io6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER VI 

MARTIAL LAW AND OPERATIONS THEREUNDER OF 
STATE MILITIA 

As it was impossible during President Johnson's ad- 
ministration to procure arms from the General Govern- 
ment without an act of Congress authorizing that meas- 
ure, a bill was introduced for that purpose. However, 
having grave doubts of its passage before the adjourn- 
ment of Congress, I sent Dr. J. M. Lewis to open nego- 
tiations with some of the Governors of the loyal States, 
— Illinois being the first, — for the purpose of borrow- 
ing arms under proper security for their return. The 
Doctor's mission failed, and the bill in Congress having 
made no encouraging progress, I arranged with Messrs. 
Hodges and Weeks for the advancement of funds, and 
for the purchase of 4,000 stands of arms with corre- 
sponding ammunition and equipment. The results of 
this effort are described in my message to the General 
Assembly, November 24, 1868, from which I quote as 
follows :^ 

"In carrying into effect the militia law obstacles have 
presented themselves, chief among which has been the 
inability of the Executive to provide arms and equip- 
ment. When your body adjourned we had every assur- 
ance that the Government of the United States would 
supply this deficiency, but the act that was pending be- 
fore Congress at that time failed to become a law, and 
that body adjourned without making any provision for 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 107 

the defense of the State. It became apparent that, in 
order to enforce the law and give protection to the peo- 
ple, some other steps must be at once taken by which 
arms could be obtained. No appropriation having been 
made by your body for the purchase of arms, and the 
necessity being imperative, I proceeded, by the authority 
vested in me as commander-in-chief, to open negotia- 
tions with persons in this city for the use of private 
funds for their purchase, expecting that your honorable 
body would sanction what I might do in that direction. 
These negotiations led to an arrangement with Messrs. 
Hodges and Weeks, who agreed to furnish the neces- 
sary funds, with the understanding that I and others 
should become personally responsible in case the Legis- 
lature should fail to reimburse them. I appointed Mr. 
Hodges agent of the State, with directions to proceed 
North and make purchase of arms on the best terms he 
could secure. . . . He purchased 4,000 stands of arms 
which were shipped to Little Rock, but were stopped at 
Memphis by a combination on the part of the transpor- 
tation companies. 

"On the 1 2th of October I chartered the Steamer 
Hesper, commanded by Capt. S. Houston, and directed 
him to proceed to Memphis and transport the arms to 
this place. Captain Houston left here on the 12th and 
left Memphis with the arms on the 15th of October. 
When he was about twenty miles below that city an 
armed band of men, disguised, on the steam-tug Nettie 
Jones boarded the Hesper and destroyed and carried 
away the arms belonging to the State. . . . 

"This piratical party was fitted out at Memphis, and 
as the offense was committed upon the waters of the 
United States, over which the State has no jurisdiction, 
you are respectfully recommended to memorialize the 
Congress of the United States for the amount expended 
for the property of this State that was destroyed. 

"The loss of these arms and the inability of the 
Executive to procure others rendered it impossible for 



io8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

me to give such protection to the peaceable and law- 
abiding citizens of our State as the insurrectionary con- 
dition of affairs demanded. 

"I earnestly recommend that Legislative action be 
had authorizing the purchase of arms, and also to make 
appropriation for the expense of the militia, I have 
been very much gratified with the prompt response by 
the militia to my call for troops, and I am assured that 
many who are willing to assist cannot do so for want of 
arms." 

This failure induced me to appeal as a last resort 
to General Schofield, then Secretary of War, for the use 
of the Government arms that were at that time lying 
idle in the United States arsenal in Little Rock. An ac- 
count of this appeal is given in the following extract 
from the "Diary of Gideon Welles," then Secretary of 
the Navy, Vol. Ill, p. 460 : 

"Friday. At the Cabinet meeting. Gen. John M. 
Schofield, Secretary of War, read a letter from the Gov- 
ernor of Arkansas, expressing great apprehension of 
trouble from the people who are armed, and requesting 
that he might have the United States arms that were in 
the arsenal to put in the hands of the militia. . . . Gen- 
eral Schofield was very earnest in this matter; said the 
opponents of the Governor were Rebels who retained 
their arms when Kirby Smith surrendered; that loyal 
men would be overpowered and killed by the Ku Klux." 

However, my request was refused and I entered upon 
the execution of my Proclamation of Martial Law with- 
out a gun or round of ammunition, without a single tent, 
wagon, horse, mule, or equipment, and without food or 
raiment with which to feed and clothe the men. Through 
lack of legislative appropriation, there was not a dollar 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 109 

in the Treasury available at the time for the expenses 
necessary to carry into effect the proclamation. 

The difficulties of this situation were greatly in- 
creased by the irregular manner in which the Arkansas 
Confederate soldiers had been permitted to break up 
and return to their homes at the close of the war. This 
will be made plain to the reader by the following extract 
from the report ^ of Gen. J. J. Reynolds to the War 
Department, dated May 27, 1865: 

". . . . The few soldiers left in Arkansas were de- 
serting every day, and would all do so if let alone for 
a short time . . . . E. Kirby Smith directed a sale of 
the public Confederate property that could not be con- 
veniently moved into Texas, but the Arkansas Confeder- 
ate soldiers declared that as they had not been paid for a 
year and a half or two years, and had nothing to work 
with, they would take what they could in settlement of 
account and go home with it. In this manner the most of 
their transportation and animals are disappearing, and 
the men are going home with their arms." 

From the foregoing extract it will be observed that 
a large number, doubtless a majority, of the Arkansas 
Confederate soldiers were permitted to desert and re- 
turn to their homes without surrendering to the United 
States Government, and to carry with them such prop- 
erty as they saw fit to lay hands upon, including arms 
and ammunition, and, what was still worse, to create 
the secret organization known as the Ku Klux Klan. 
Even those who regularly surrendered in Texas, serving 
under Kirby Smith, were permitted by the terms of sur- 
render ^ to retain their horses for the alleged reason 
that they would need them for the cultivation of their 
crops. These liberal terms of surrender certainly were 
not granted in order to furnish the means for the mid- 



no THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

night Ku Klux raiders to ride over the country terror- 
izing peaceable people and stealing their movable prop- 
erty, as was frequently done. 

The 10,000 Arkansas Union soldiers when mus- 
tered out were required to turn in their arms and 
equipment,^ and even the loyal militia organizations 
under the Murphy Government were required to dis- 
band and turn in their arms to the Federal Government; 
while every effort made by me to arm the State militia 
was unavailing. Thus the loyal Union men who entered 
the Federal Army were left to the tender mercies of 
the very men who in many instances during the first year 
of the war as Confederate Conscription officers were 
charged with running them down with bloodhounds, 
carrying them in irons to the nearest Confederate Post 
and compelling them to serve against the Government 
they had been taught to regard with the greatest affec- 
tion and loyalty. 

What a travesty upon the paternal obligations of 
the now victorious Government to assist in the main- 
tenance of an equal and coordinate State Government 
created by it, and to throw its shield of protection over 
the returning Arkansas Union soldiers who, under un- 
precedented hardships, responded to their country's call in 
the hour of its direst need! 

Seldom perhaps in American history has a military 
movement been organized and successfully prosecuted 
under such tremendous difficulties. After my proclama- 
tion of martial law I passed some very anxious days and 
nights, as it was far from certain that the militia, in the 
face of such a situation, would respond to my call. This 
anxiety, however, was changed to gratification and senti- 
ments of the highest appreciation of their loyalty when I 
learned from various sources that the militiamen were 
flocking, principally from the mountain regions, to the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS iii 

places of rendezvous designated by their district com- 
manders. They were In most cases mounted upon their 
own horses and armed with weapons of their own, or 
such as they could borrow from their neighbors. 

General Catterson, who was a Brigadier-General of 
volunteers in the Civil War, with an excellent record, 
proved to be fully equal to the task assigned him. This 
tribute of approval applies equally to Major Demby, 
who was an invaluable support to General Catterson. 
As a mark of my appreciation of his services I promoted 
him from the rank of major to that of colonel. 

Within nine days from the date of the Proclamation 
of Martial Law, General Catterson and his staff arrived 
at Murfreesboro, Ark., the place of rendezvous for the 
troops under his command. Notwithstanding the remark- 
able activity of General Catterson and Major Demby in 
organizing and assembling their commands at Murfrees- 
boro, the enemy, with their perfect Ku Klux organization, 
had already assembled 200 men at Centre Point, then in 
Sevier County, and had on the line of march for that place 
the following bodies,^ — 150 men under the notorious 
Baker, one company from the southern part of Pope 
County, two companies from Little River County, 160 
men from the northwestern part of Hempstead County. 

General Catterson has recently died, but Colonel 
Demby is still living at Hot Springs, Ark. Some years 
ago I obtained from Colonel Demby the following facts 
concerning the encounter at Centre Point, which were 
later submitted to and confirmed by General Catterson 
and by other participants in the affair : 

On the 13th of November, 1868, Major Demby 
assembled at Murfreesboro about 360 men of the First 
Arkansas Cavalry, — all white. Learning that the enemy 
had a supply of arms stored at Centre Point, he sent 



112 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Captain Reeves with about lOO men to seize them and 
there await further orders. 

General Catterson and his staff arrived at Murfrees- 
boro that night. The next morning the command 
marched to a place within seven miles of Centre Point, 
where they met Captain Reeves retreating, who re- 
ported the enemy at Centre Point about 500 strong, 
whereupon General Catterson ordered Major Demby 
with four companies to take the advance. Coming in 
sight of Centre Point, Major Demby saw a force of 
fully 400 men forming in line of battle; whereupon he 
ordered Captain Reeves, with his company, to march 
to the rear of the town on the Mt. Ida road, and he 
ordered Lieutenant Cotton with his command to the left 
to occupy the Nashville road, while he himself marched 
upon the town by the Murfreesboro road. 

While Major Demby's command was crossing a creek 
running through the outskirts of the town the enemy, 
under shelter of the houses, fired upon his troops, killing 
one man and wounding five. While this was progress- 
ing Captain Reeves struck the enemy in the rear, which 
threw them into confusion and enabled him to take a 
considerable number of prisoners. The enemy formed 
again behind a church in front of Major Demby, while 
he rallied his men and charged them, whereupon they 
fled in the utmost disorder. 

At this time a gun shot was fired from a building, 
which the militia immediately occupied. They found the 
upper story to be the den of the Ku Klux Klan, with 
their disguises hanging about the walls, and with a Con- 
federate Flag spread over the altar where candidates 
knelt and took the prescribed oaths. The room was 
empty, but they discovered a trap door in the ceiling and 
hoisted one of the militia on the shoulders of another, 
who thus succeeded in entering the loft, where he found 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 113 

several men concealed. They were arrested, and among 
them was John Crawford, an ex-Confederate Major and 
the defaulting State officer referred to on page 365. 

The militia having occupied the town, the enemy in 
great confusion sought places of concealment. Some of 
them were dragged by the militia from a space be- 
tween the ceiling of a porch and the roof, and others 
from every imaginable hiding-place. The whole num- 
ber of prisoners taken throughout the affair was about 
60. General Catterson, mistaking my power in the exe- 
cution of martial law, — which was confined to the coun- 
ties enumerated in the proclamation, — sent to Little 
Rock to be turned over to me all the prisoners above 
referred to. I immediately sent them all back to Gen- 
eral Catterson with orders to investigate the circum- 
stances and release such men as were not charged with 
any special crime against the laws of the State and to 
organize a military commission for the trial of such 
offenders as were charged with high crimes. The pro- 
ceedings and verdict of said military commission were 
to be referred to me for my approval before being car- 
ried into effect. 

The result of this affair created a profound impres- 
sion in all localities throughout the State, and even be- 
yond its borders, and caused the Ku Klux bodies here- 
tofore mentioned as having been on their way to Centre 
Point to countermarch to the localities from whence they 
had come. 

Had it not been for the quickness of perception and 
promptness of action that characterized General Catter- 
son's operations and his immediate and vigorous attack 
upon the enemy without parley or delay, the assembling 
of this very considerable insurgent force might have 
turned the tide against the State Government and led 
to the most serious results. 



114 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

The Centre Point affair was followed by three inci- 
dents of far-reaching importance. A negro man, charged 
with an assault upon a white woman, was arrested within 
General Catterson's jurisdiction and tried by a military 
commission. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, 
and, with my approval, publicly executed at Rocky Com- 
fort, Ark, The second was the trial and conviction of 
E. R. Griffith, commonly known as "Bud" Griffith, for 
having been one of the participants in the murder of 
Major Andrews, Lieutenant Willis, and the unknown 
colored man.*^ He was publicly executed at Rocky Com- 
fort, Ark. The third was the killing of the notorious 
desperado and bandit, Cullen Baker, the particulars of 
which were correctly described in the article in the Wash- 
ington Telegraph, which was republished in the Gazette, 
January 26, 1869, as follows: 

"Death of Cullen Baker. This man, who has prob- 
ably caused more excitement and committed more crimes 
than any man in modern times, has at last fallen, and 
the country breathes free once more. 

"The circumstances of his death are as follows: 
"About four weeks since, he went to the house of 
his brother-in-law, Mr. Thos. Orr, in Lafayette County, 
Ark., and, breaking down the door, took Mr. Orr and 
his father-in-law, Mr. Wm. Foster, tied their hands 
behind them, and kept them during the night. Next 
morning he hung Mr. Orr until he supposed he was dead, 
when he cut him down to get the rope to hang another 
man. This man was finally released by some of Baker's 
men. Mr. Orr recovered after Baker and his party left. 
Mr. F^oster they released about 12 o'clock that day. On 
the 6th of January, Baker and a man named Kirby came 
into the settlement again, and Mr. Orr, with a few 
friends, determined to kill him or sacrifice their lives in 
the attempt. While concealed in the woods they rushed 
on him and succeeded in killing him about 1 1 o'clock . . . ." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 115 

The execution of the negro taught the lawless ele- 
ment that under General Catterson's rigid rule they 
might expect, if apprehended, such exemplary punish- 
ment as the nature of their offenses should demand. 

The arrest and execution of Griffith showed that Gen- 
eral Catterson was not groping in the dark, but knew 
whom to lay hands upon, and that while the object of 
martial law was not to punish members of the Ku Klux 
Klan as such, it was to ferret out and bring to justice 
those members who had been guilty of high crimes. 

On September 3, 1868, Baker's operations having 
been brought to my attention, and especially his recent 
murder of one J. Smith, I had issued a reward of $1,000 
for his arrest and delivery to the proper officer ;''^ where- 
upon he posted upon the trees and public places in the 
vicinity of his operations a reward of $5,000 for my 
delivery to him, dead or alive. After the killing of 
Baker his body was brought to Little Rock, and after full 
identification the reward was paid. 

The execution of Griffith and the killing of Baker 
caused a panic and general exodus among the desperadoes 
who, as members of the Ku Klux Klan and under its 
protection, had carried on their nefarious operations 
"without let or hindrance" in the southern part of the 
State. 

The location of this band was well chosen for their 
purposes on account of the ease with which they, if pur- 
sued by an officer of the law, could fly beyond the juris- 
diction of Arkansas to the States of Louisiana, Texas, 
or the Indian Territory, which all cornered within a 
comparatively small area. 

After these favorable occurrences General Catter- 
son's work of reestablishing the civil authorities in the 
counties named and in other counties under martial law 
in his district was comparatively easy. He found that a 



ii6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

large percentage of the citizens in a number of counties 
had joined the Ku Klux Klan in the belief that its object 
was to protect the whites against their exaggerated ideas 
of negro domination. This class, having been drawn for- 
ward step by step by their Ku Klux leaders, at length 
found themselves verging on or in a state of insurrec- 
tion against the lawful authority, and were under such 
terrorism as to cause them to fear the vengeance of the 
order, should they desert it. They now began to look 
upon the militia as their liberators, not as their enemies, 
and many were ready to pledge themselves to support 
the reestablishment of the civil authorities and to join 
in the punishment of the outlaws, should they return. 

General Catterson, having become satisfied of their 
good faith and having received assurances of their deter- 
mination to support the civil authorities, reported these 
facts to me with his recommendation that martial law 
be revoked in the counties within his territory, which was 
done under my proclamation referred to in my message 
to the Legislature, January 12, 1869.® 

COLONEL MALLORY's MILITARY OPERATIONS 

I now come to a description of the condition of 
affairs in Col. Samuel W. Mallory's district and his 
militia operations. 

On the 30th of November, 1868, Capt. George Prig- 
more assembled at Monticello three companies of col- 
ored troops, — one from Little Rock and two from Pine 
Bluff. On the Wednesday following Colonel Mallory 
arrived to take command of his district. 

Early in December, 1868, Messrs. Haynes, Brooks, 
Whitington, and Wells, — all prominent citizens of Drew 
County, representing both political parties and duly se- 
lected by its citizens, — called upon me at the Capitol to 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 117 

discuss and if possible devise ways and means prepara- 
tory to the restoration of the civil authority In that 
county. In the deliberations that followed I became very 
much impressed with the good faith of this Committee. 
The result was that they agreed to go back to Monti- 
cello and raise two home companies of non-partisan 
membership, — one of cavalry and one of Infantry, — 
upon which I could rely under all circumstances to obey 
the orders of the commanding officer of that District. 

On their return to Monticello, Captains H. C. Burks 
and James A. Jackson redeemed the promise of the Com- 
mittee by the prompt enlistment In the State Guards of 
the two companies referred to, and they and their subor- 
dinate officers were duly commissioned by me. I have 
only the muster roll of Captain Burks' company, — which 
economy of space prevents me from publishing, — but I 
can say that, including the two lieutenants, the full 
strength of this company was 74 men, who, with the 
exception of about fifteen, were all ex-Confederate sol- 
diers, and two were ex-members of the Ku Klux Klan. 

Shortly after the occupation of Monticello by the 
militia Stokely Morgan was arrested, having been 
charged with complicity In the murder of Deputy Sheriff 
William Dollar and a negro named "Fed" Reeves. The 
atrocity of these murders is shown by the following well 
established facts: Deputy Sheriff Dollar was serving a 
writ and was killed by a gang of some fourteen Ku Klux. 
Then, in order to make an Impressive tableau, they killed 
"Fed" Reeves, an unoffending negro, and tied the white 
man and negro together In the attitude of kissing and 
embracing, and left them In the public road where they 
remained for about two days. During this time, to 
gratify their curiosity, many people visited them and left 
them as they found them. 

In due time a military commission was convened, 



ii8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

composed of the following members : Col. Samuel W. 
Mallory, Capt. George Prigmore, Captain Bushmyer, 
Capt. H. C. Burks, Capt. J. A. Jackson, and Lieut. 
Thomas Haynes. 

The three members last named were officers in the 
two home companies. The unanimous verdict "guilty" 
rendered by the military commission was based princi- 
pally upon the evidence of an aunt and an uncle of the 
accused, and the verdict was publicly carried into effect 
by a detail commanded by Colonel Demby, assisted by 
the two Monticello companies, who were charged with 
the keeping of order. The execution of Morgan had a 
very salutary effect, resulting immediately in the flight 
from the State of thirteen desperadoes from the County 
of Drew, who were never permitted to return. 

A great deal of the foregoing information is based 
on a letter in my possession from Capt. H. C. Burks 
to S. A. Duke, dated November i, 1906, which Duke 
delivered to me with permission to use. As I do not 
believe that the facts which I have stated will be ques- 
tioned, I omit its reproduction. 

On February 6, 1869, I issued my proclamation re- 
voking martial law and restoring the civil authorities ^ 
in Colonel Mallory's district. 

The mustering into the State service and the active use 
of the two home companies referred to was a master- 
stroke of peace-restoring policy. During my adminis- 
tration and ever since I have kept informed as to the 
history of Drew County, and I unhesitatingly express the 
opinion that its citizens have justly earned the reputation 
of being among the most peaceable and law-abiding of 
any county in the State. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 119 

GEN. D. P. UPHAM's COMMAND 

The civil authority in all the counties south of the 
White River having been restored, I now proceed to 
give an account of the administration of martial law 
in the northeast military district under the command of 
Brig.-Gen. D. P. Upham. 

On December 8, 1868, General Upham assembled 
a force of about one hundred and twenty white soldiers 
at Augusta, Woodruff County, and proceeded at once 
to fortify his position by the erection of a stockade, and 
soon thereafter he occupied the Counties of Craighead 
and Greene with suitable forces. 

During the period that General Upham was assem- 
bling and organizing his command at Augusta, several ex- 
travagant reports came to me of abuses and depreda- 
tions charged to his troops. I therefore sent Adjt.-Gen. 
Keyes Danforth to inquire into and to investigate thor- 
oughly these rumors. As his report is an important 
document I republish it in full.^° 

"Little Rock, Ark., 

"December 12, 1868. 
"His Excellency Pov^^ell Clayton, 

"Governor of Arkansas, 
"Little Rock, Ark. 

"Dear Sir: In compliance with your instructions 
I left the city on the morning of the loth instant, arrived 
at General Upham's headquarters at Augusta on the 
loth, returning here this evening. I respectfully submit 
the following report of affairs as I found them there. 

"At De Vall's Bluff, and other points on my way up 
White River, I heard extravagant reports of depreda- 
tions committed by General Upham's command, all of 
which I am glad to report, upon a thorough investiga- 
tion, proved to be untrue. 

"I found General Upham located in a house (which 



120 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

was unoccupied when he took possession of it) protected 
by a strong stockade. Some of his troops were quartered 
inside the defence; others in such buildings as were found 
tenantless in the town. 

"His force amounted to about one hundred and fifty 
white men, tolerably well armed and mounted. He 
moved from Batesville with one hundred men, only a 
portion of whom were armed. Upon his arrival in Au- 
gusta he immediately seized all arms and a large amount 
of ammunition in the possession of the merchants. He 
had taken such clothing and quartermaster's stores as 
were needed by his men, and nothing more that I could 
ascertain. I am satisfied that his command has not taken 
the property of the citizens in any case where it was not 
actually needed. On the night of the 9th instant General 
Upham had reliable information of an intended attack 
by a force of insurgents, estimated to number from three 
to four hundred men. He at once arrested fifteen of 
the leading sympathizers in town and confined them in a 
brick building, and sent notification to the citizens that 
if he were attacked he would kill his prisoners and burn 
the town. Upon this, several influential men went out- 
side of the town and prevailed upon the attacking force 
to abandon their intentions and return to their homes, 
which it is believed has been done. General Upham told 
me that a detachment of his troops had been fired upon 
while marching to join him, and had committed some 
depredations immediately upon their arrival in town; and 
that he had caused their arrest and returned the goods 
to their owners. He assured me that he would main- 
tain strict discipline and allow no seizures of property 
except by officers under proper orders. He feels per- 
fectly confident of his ability to defend successfully his 
position against any attack which may be made upon 
him. On the morning of the loth he sent out a detach- 
ment to ascertain if there were any armed men in the 
county. If there were not, he intended to release all 
but two or three of his prisoners (who are desperadoes) 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 121 

and to do all In his power to restore a feeling of security 
and confidence among the people. 

"General Upham has no colored troops in service; 
but intended to put into camp the colored companies in 
Woodruff County. I respectfully recommend that this 
be not done except in case of extreme necessity. I found 
the people in Augusta very much frightened; a few of 
them had gone away. The merchants had shipped a 
small portion of their goods. When I left, however, 
a better feeling had begun to prevail and the excitement 
was rapidly dying away. I do not think it was so much 
the presence of the militia which agitated the people as 
the fear of an attack from the outside upon General 
Upham's troops. General Upham's ideas about restor- 
ing civil law as soon as possible and using as few men 
as possible accord fully with your own views. He thinks 
a month or six weeks will end militia operations in his 
district. He also recommends that civil law be restored 
in Fulton County at once. 

"I am, very respectfully, 

"Your obedient servant, 
"Keyes Danforth, 

"Adjutant-General." 

I am glad to say that General Danforth's report fully 
exonerated General Upham and his command. On the 
15th and 22d of December, 1868, General Upham trans- 
mitted to me two reports ^^ relative to militia opera- 
tions in Woodruff County, copies of which are as follows : 

"Augusta, Ark., 
"December 15, 1868. 
"Governor Clayton, 

"Dear Sir: I have the honor to make the follow- 
ing report: 

"A large force numbering about two hundred (200) 
of the citizens of Woodruff County gathered together, 
armed, to resist the State troops, and the citizens of 



122 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Augusta went out and met them day before yesterday and 
caused them to lay down their arms and return to their 
homes; all except a few are outlaws, among which are the 
men who shot McClure and myself on the 22d of October 
last; the others are men of the same character. Last night, 
about ten o'clock, our pickets were fired upon by a party 
of about one hundred ( lOo) men from Sharp, Lawrence, 
and Jackson, joined by the aforesaid few outlaws of 
this county. They immediately retired about five miles 
above here on my plantation, camped overnight, and 
took my overseer, Richmond Briscoe, and Captain Ander- 
son prisoners. This morning they made a move in the 
direction of Augusta. 

"We are about one hundred and twenty (120) men, 
half armed. We can hold the position until Dale and 
Monks arrive, who are on their way with about two 
hundred men. Send us, if possible, about one or two 
hundred stands of arms and some ammunition. The 
rebels will probably get together six or eight hundred 
men within a week. Colonel Schaurte can give you some 
information. We are anxious for a fight, and our men 
will do all they can with what they have to do it with. 
I don't care for reinforcements if we have arms. The 
citizens under my orders are bringing some every day. 
The telegraph operator, Holman, is a Ku Klux and 
made his escape last night after giving all the informa- 
tion he could to Jacksonport. Send an operator. The 
good citizens have been here this morning begging for 
arms to fight with us, but we have none to give. We are 
in fine spirits and every man will fight. The citizens 
have just presented an address to the citizens of other 
counties, praying them to desist and let this county alone, 
as they are well satisfied and wish no interference from 
any quarter. I will send you copy by next mail. 

"I have the honor, Governor, to remain 
"Yours with great respect, 
"D. P. Upham, 

"Brig.-Gen. Commanding." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 123 

"Augusta, Ark., 

"December 22, 1868. 
"His Excellency, Hon. Powell Clayton, Governor, 
"Little Rock, Arkansas. 
"Governor: My report to you on the 15th con- 
tains about all that could be said. Captain Taylor with 
a detachment of about fifty (50) men followed the out- 
laws from Jackson and other counties two days and 
nights, and at last drove them into Jackson County. I 
telegraphed to Captain Brian to arrest Bob Shaver and 
notify me, but as yet have received no notice of the ar- 
rest of Shaver, who was in command of all the insurgents 
north of Woodruff County, and a resident of Jackson- 
port. Under his direction and superintendence were the 
Ku Klux, with Col. A. C. Picket at the head, and Capt. 

A. W. Robertson and Lieut. B. Y. Jones, who have fur- 
nished me with the original roll of one company, named 
as follows: 

"Capt. A. W. Robertson, 

B. Y. Jones, ist Lieutenant, 

H. H. Hammock, 2d Lieutenant, 

"Privates : 

W. B. Yarber, R. B. Harris, 

A. L. Harralson, William Harris, 
S. M. Crutchfield, J. T. Spradlin, 
T. A. Spradlin, William Hughes, 
James Harris, Merideth Williams, 
E. M. Hughes, John Brown, 
John Q. Shields, Robert Jennings, 
H. C. Mondy, F. M. Spradlin, 
John Home, J. B. Q. Shields, 

B. M. Yarborough, Joseph Carden. 

"There are several other companies which will be re- 
ported in future. 



124 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"The aforesaid Col. A. C. Picket was with Bob Sha- 
ver, commanding insurgents of this county. He is a law- 
yer of Augusta and recently connected with the Augusta 
Sentinel. 

"The greater portion of the Ku Klux of this county 
are young men, who have been called upon by these 'high- 
toned gentlemen' and 'law-abiding citizens,' Invited to 
ride with them at night, and taken out in the woods and 
sworn in without knowing what the nature of the organi- 
zation was until they were in it. The headquarters of 
Bob Shaver while In this vicinity were at my house, on the 
Jacksonport road, and they stole and destroyed every- 
thing, taking away the last thing in the house and every 
horse and mule on the place. The citizens are now in 
favor of the administration as it is. I can, the last of 
this week, proceed to Craighead and Greene. I would re- 
spectfully recommend the restoration of civil law in this 
county at an early day, and that martial law be proclaimed 
in Jackson county. I have ordered the arrest of Bob 
Shaver,^- and report says he is now under arrest. Next 
mail will convey to you a healthy state of affairs In Wood- 
ruff county. 

"I am, Governor, yours with great respect, 
"D. P. Upham, 

"Brig.-Gen. Commanding." 

About this time a delegation composed of Col. A. C. 
Picket, Hon. C. L. Gauze, and John W. Slayton, called 
on me at the executive offices in Little Rock, Ark., with the 
avowed purpose of having the civil authority restored In 
Woodruff County. Colonel Picket was the spokesman, 
and commenced by saying, "Governor, I know not how it 
Is in other counties in the State, but we can assure you 
that there are no Ku Klux in Woodruff County." At 
this point I interrupted the Colonel and drew from a 
drawer in my desk a list of the Ku Klux Klan of Wood- 
ruff County sent me by General Upham a few days be- 



I 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 125 

fore. Handing it to him, I remarked: "Colonel, please 
look over this list, and I think you will find that your 
name, like that of 'Ben Adhem,' leads all the rest." The 
Colonel glanced over it, and before he had time to reply 
I said: "Now, gentlemen, don't come to me with lies 
on your lips. If you will go back home, and in good 
faith disband the Ku Klux organization there, and fur- 
nish me with conclusive evidence that you have done so, 
and I have means of knowing whether you do or not, I 
will revoke martial law and restore the civil authori- 
ties there." 

The Colonel and his associates seemed much crest- 
fallen, and for a time they were speechless. At length 
they agreed that they would go back and comply with 
my requirements, which in due time they did. This I 
learned from General Upham and from other sources 
of information, whereupon on December 14, 1868, I 
by proclamation restored the civil authorities in Wood- 
ruff County. 

Years afterward, when Colonel Gauze became a 
member of Congress from that district, he and I fre- 
quently laughed over this Picket episode. He told me 
that they had made life almost unbearable for the Col- 
onel on their way back to Woodruff County because of 
the sudden termination of a speech that he had previ- 
ously prepared and read to them. 

General Upham had been threatening the declara- 
tion of martial law in Jackson County, and on Decem- 
ber 17, 1868, William Brian and John W. Slayton 
visited General Upham at Augusta for the purpose of 
averting the application of martial law to their county. 
In their letter of December 17, 1868, addressed to E. L. 
Watson, W. K. Patterson, and others, relative to affairs 
in Woodruff County, published in the Republican of De- 
cember 22, 1868, the following language occurs: 



126 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"The people here in this county have, with few excep- 
tions, submitted and pledged themselves to assist the civil 
officers to enforce the laws. We have conversed freely 
with them and they earnestly desire and implore citi- 
zens outside from other counties not to attack or offer any 
resistance whatever to the military. It is the utmost folly 
and murderous to do so. . . ." 



OPERATIONS OF THE MILITIA UNDER COLONEL WATSON 

An account of Colonel Watson's militia operations 
from the time he left Helena until he returned to that 
city and mustered out his command is given in the follow- 
ing communication to me from him, dated October 3, 
1889: 

"In accordance with your orders in the fall of 1868, 
I organized four companies of Infantry: In Helena one 
company; in St. Francis one company, and in Crittenden 
County two companies. These were made up of colored 
men. The officers were white except two second lieu- 
tenants who were colored men. 

"I had to arm my men as best I could, there being 
no state arms for my use. The same is true as regards 
ammunition and clothing. Many of the men had not 
sufficient clothing to protect them in ordinary weather 
under shelter, much less when exposed to the severe 
weather we encountered. 

"All of my officers and most of the men had seen 
much service in the war. On December 24, '68, I 
marched from Helena with the four Phillips County 
companies en route for Madison. Phillips County being 
under Civil Law, I invited the sheriff to accompany me 
through the county, which he did. On the night of De- 
cember 25, while encamped in the woods near Madi- 
son, six inches of snow fell on us. This caused much 
suffering among the men. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 127 

"I reached Madison on the 26th. Here I let it be 
understood that I was going up Crowley's Ridge to the 
counties above. I remained in Madison about two days 
to permit the assembling of the St. Francis company. 
On the night of the 28th (I think) about nine o'clock I 
took possession of the telegraph office, and the passenger 
engine on the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, then 
only running from Memphis to Madison. I ferried my 
men across the St. Francis in an old flat boat and by day- 
light was at Hopefield and on my way to Marlon, eight 
miles distant, having nearly reached the latter place be- 
fore my presence in the vicinity was known. 

"When two miles from Marlon I was met by Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Main and Captains Haynes and Cook, 
who had organized the two companies in Crittenden 
County. With the assistance of Main I mounted a squad, 
and under his command they dashed Into Marlon, cap- 
turing a lot of the desperadoes who had committed so 
many outrages In the county. I then moved into Marion 
and put up a strong stockade. I found a terrible state 
of affairs In Crittenden County. The better class of citi- 
zens was completely cowed by the desperadoes who held 
complete possession of the county, 

"Many citizens of the county, both Republicans and 
Democrats, told me the organization of the Ku Klux was 
so nearly universal that no man, If he were opposed to 
the existing state of affairs, dared speak to his neighbor 
on the subject. Consequently, no organized movement 
could be made, and there was no possible solution of the 
matter except by martial law. 

"I was attacked several times at night. In one of 
these attacks we killed one of the attacking party, and 
I learned that several were wounded. After I had been 
at Marion a short time Lieutenant-Colonel Monks re- 
ported with (I think) six companies of cavalry. He ha"d 
been ordered to me by General Upham. He had a good 
body of troops under good discipline and all white men 
from the northwestern part of the State. 



128 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"Soon after the arrival of Colonel Monks, General 
Upham came over to Marion on a tour of inspection. 
He took Colonel Monks and his cavalry and went up to 
Mississippi County, and placed him in command of that 
county. When General Upham left Marion he took 
with him four of the prisoners I had captured, intend- 
ing to take them to Augusta and send them to Little 
Rock, they being the most notorious of the outlaws I 
had captured. On the march to Mississippi County these 
men attempted to escape and were killed. 

"Shortly before this time, four colored men belong- 
ing to the Helena Company committed rape on two 
white women. I had them arrested and brought before 
a Court Martial. They admitted their guilt and were 
sentenced to be shot to death, which sentence was car- 
ried into effect. The firing squad in the execution was 
composed entirely of colored men. They executed their 
orders without a comment, which shows a good state of 
discipline for militia. In justice to the colored men of 
the command I must say they favored the execution of 
these men in vindication of themselves. 

"One of the prisoners I had captured, named Mof- 
fard, was charged with several murders and with shoot- 
ing Captain Barker of the United States service, who 
was stationed at Marion. I ordered a Military Com- 
mission for his trial. Moffard was tried, clearly proven 
guilty, and sentenced to be hanged, which sentence, with 
the approval of the Governor, was executed. Both of 
the Courts above mentioned were composed of my most 
experienced officers, men who had seen long service. I 
had little difficulty in enforcing strict disciphne. If the 
men could have had uniform clothing and arms, they 
would have compared favorably with any troops. 

"The Appeal and Avalanche, papers published in 
Memphis, published almost daily what purported to be 
accounts of killings and outrages in Crittenden, giving 
lists of names of people who had never been heard of in 
the county. These stories were all entirely false ex- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 129 

cept so far as justified by above facts. Several parties 
who came over to see how matters were tried to stop 
these false stories, but without avail. Among these were 
Dr. McGanock, for whom I had a safeguard from the 
Governor, and a committee appointed by a meeting in 
Memphis. All these told me they found the reports 
to be false and would have them corrected. But it did 
not suit the purposes of these papers to publish the 
truth. 

"The commanding officer of the United States troops 
at Memphis (General Granger, I think) sent one of 
his staff over to call on me and see for himself. I took 
care to let him see everything. He reported to the Gen- 
eral that the published accounts were nearly all false, 
that my command was as orderly as could be under the 
conditions surrounding us. 

"At first there was a strong effort made In Memphis 
to raise a force to come over and drive me out. A large 
force was organized in the city and surrounding country, 
but they did not make the attempt. 

"After my skirmishes a large number of the worst 
men in the county left the State; some of them never 
returned, I am told. After everything had quieted down 
I sent the St. Francis company home, leaving Colonel 
Main in command with the two companies belonging in 
that county. I took the companies from Helena home 
and relieved them from duty in time to commence their 
crops. 

"My memory of what occurred in Mississippi County 
under Colonel Monks is very indistinct. I think he is 
living in Missouri some place. . . . 

"The last I knew of Colonel Main, he was In charge 
of the National Cemetery at Fort Smith. He could 
give you a statement of affairs in Crittenden before mar- 
tial law was declared. I cannot speak too highly of 
Main. He is a man of remarkable courage and good 
judgment. His war record was brilliant. 

"What I have written Is from memory, but every 



I30 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

statement is correct. As I told you, much of my record 
was burned in my office at Helena. I do not know what 
troops Upham had over on White River and do not re- 
member much of what occurred there. . . ." 

About January 8, 1869, General Upham left Augusta 
on a tour of inspection of the troops in the counties of 
Craighead, Greene, Mississippi, and Crittenden. Having 
heard, through Memphis sources, so many disparaging 
reports relative to the conduct of the militia in Critten- 
den County, I concluded to visit General Upham and 
make a personal investigation. For that purpose I ar- 
rived in Memphis with my staff on the evening of Janu- 
ary 25, 1869, and left for Marion, Crittenden County, 
the next day, where I remained several days and thor- 
oughly investigated the reports referred to. 

I regret very much that I have no detailed written 
report from General Upham covering the period of his 
tour of inspection, the lack of which can only be accounted 
for upon the theory that, having thoroughly gone over 
the ground with me in my investigation at Marion, he 
concluded a written report was unnecessary. I can only 
say that the final results of my investigation completely 
vindicated General Upham and Colonel Watson in the 
conduct of their respective commands, and agreed sub- 
stantially with the report of Generals Babcock and Porter 
to General Grant, and with the written report of Brig.- 
Gen. R. B, Ayres, of Colonel Rousseau's staff, which was 
transmitted to the War Department, and reads as fol- 
lows : ^^ 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 131 

"department of LOUISIANA 

"Acting Assistant Inspector-General's Office, 

"New Orleans, La., Jan. 19, 1869. 
"Bvt.-Brig.-Gen. Thos. H. Neill, 

"Act. Asst. Adjt.-General, 

"Department of Louisiana. 

"General: I have the honor to submit the follow- 
ing report concerning affairs in Arkansas as observed in 
my recent visit to that State, made pursuant to S. O. No. 
104, series of 1868, from these Headquarters, 

"At the close of the Civil War society was greatly 
disorganized in Arkansas, especially in those portions of 
the State where the population Is sparse and scattered, 
and the substitution of Civil Law for the military rule 
has been attended with unusual difficulties and progressed 
slowly in those regions. Desperate characters, accus- 
tomed to lawlessness, have continued to commit acts of 
violence and outrage with Impunity. The law-abiding 
citizens, having become accustomed to those things by 
the frequency of their occurrence, considered them as a 
matter of course; and from that and other causes failed 
to give that countenance and support to the civil officers 
that was essential to the full and fearless performance of 
their duties. Those officers, in many Instances, were in- 
timidated and In fear of personal violence, so that the 
execution of the law was always attended with difficulty 
in the localities referred to, and the attempt to execute 
it often resulted In entire failure, and it came to be con- 
sidered by the Executive Authority of the State that it 
was necessary to adopt some course whereby the suprem- 
acy of the law should be established, the outrages 
stopped, and the outlaws brought to justice or driven 
from the State. 

"Several methods were suggested whereby the de- 
sired result might be obtained. One was to place small 
detachments of United States troops in each of the dis- 
turbed counties, to act as a posse in assistance of the 



132 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

sheriff, and application was made to the Department 
Commander for troops for this purpose, but he did not 
deem it advisable to make the disposition recommended. 
This would have been at best but a temporary expedient 
of no longer duration than the presence of the troops; 
moreover, the calling upon the United States Govern- 
ment for assistance would of itself have been considered 
as an acknowledgment of the failure of the State Gov- 
ernment and the civil authority. Another method was 
to enroll a small force of militia in the disturbed coun- 
ties, to act subordinate to, and in assistance of, the civil 
officers; but their sphere of action was deemed too lim- 
ited to ensure more than partial results. 

"Another plan, and the one adopted, was to place 
the several counties wherein the execution of civil law 
was a failure under martial law, to divide the State into 
Districts, and to organize a movable force of militia to 
pursue and arrest or drive from the State the ruffians and 
outlaws. 

"In pursuance of this plan the State was divided into 
the Districts of the Southwest, the Northwest, the North- 
east, and the Southeast, and commanders were assigned 
to them. The force in the Southwest district was op- 
posed by an armed band, with which it had a conflict at 
Centre Point, resulting in the killing of several of the in- 
surrectionists, the capture of others, of arms, etc., and 
the dispersion of the remainder. A band also organized 
to resist the force in the Northeast District near Augusta, 
but the persons composing it were persuaded by the citi- 
zens of that town to disperse without a conflict. 

"The result of the plan adopted has been that the 
substantial, law-abiding citizens of the several counties 
placed under martial law have held meetings and 
pledged themselves to support the civil authorities and 
to assist the civil officers, when necessary, in the per- 
formance of their duties. A result certainly of the most 
gratifying character and promising peace, and the due ex- 
ecution of the laws in the future. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 133 

"In each county where these guarantees have been 
given the civil authority has been restored and martial 
law now exists in but one or two counties, and it will 
doubtless soon cease to exist in the State. As regards 
the alleged outrages by the militia, the reports thereof are 
great exaggerations and many of them pure fabrication. 
It would be impossible anywhere to call into existence a 
force as this has been, for temporary purposes, and not 
have violations of orders and military law. 

"There was no other way to maintain the militia but 
to subsist it on the county — collecting supplies by a sys- 
tem of contributions levied on the people, giving receipts 
therefor with a view to future payment; and I was as- 
sured the commanders used their best endeavors that 
this should be done in a proper manner. Subordinates 
at times doubtless exceeded their orders; also persons 
not of the forces, but representing themselves as be- 
longing to them, in some instances plundered the people. 
In cases where orders were disobeyed and instructions 
departed from, the delinquents when detected were pun- 
ished according to the military code. A gross outrage 
was perpetrated by a militiaman of the Southwest com- 
mand. He was promptly tried and executed. 

"As fast as the civil authority is established the militia 
forces are disbanded; and it is confidently believed that 
the civil law can be enforced in the future by the ofHcers 
thereof, and that a resort to the military power will not 
be again necessary. 

"Respectfully submitted, 

"(Signed) R. B. Ayres, 
"Lt.-Col. 28th Inf., Bvt.-Maj.-Genl., 

"A. A. I. G." 

It is to be regretted that Colonel Watson did not give 
the names of the four men he refers to as having been 
killed in an attempt to escape on their way to Mississippi 
County from Marion. However, I have an Indistinct 



134 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

recollection that, during my investigation at Marion, Gen- 
eral Upham gave me the names of these men. I remem- 
ber that during the progress of my investigation with 
General Upham I first regarded his statement as to the 
killing of the four men as unsatisfactory, but he con- 
vinced me that in this case they actually were attempt- 
ing to escape when they were fired upon at short range 
by the guards and killed. 

In recognition of the invaluable services rendered by 
Colonel Watson, prior to his muster out, I promoted him 
to the rank of Brigadier-General. 

CONDITIONS EXISTING IN CRITTENDEN COUNTY PRIOR 
TO COLONEL WATSON's OCCUPATION 

The following extract from a letter from Col. E. M. 
Main, dated February 5, 19 10, shows the condition of 
affairs existing in Crittenden County prior to its occu- 
pation by Colonel Watson : 

"I have read Colonel Watson's statement of the op- 
erations of the State troops under his command in Crit- 
tenden County, which I think in the main is correct. The 
statement coincides with my recollection of those events. 
There may, however, be some minor events that have 
escaped our memory, but I think Colonel Watson's state- 
ment covers the most salient points. 

*'I might here mention the fact, evidently overlooked 
by the Colonel, that at the time he arrived with the State 
troops the enemy had a pretty well organized force of 
several hundred men, and they amused themselves by 
driving in our pickets every night for some time, or until 
the arrival of Colonel Monks with his cavalry when we 
raised the siege, before which there was more or less 
skirmishing every night. 

"Before Colonel Watson arrived there were open and 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 135 

bloody threats against the State troops, and that they 
were prepared to carry out these threats was evident. 

"Relative to the condition of affairs in Crittenden 
County previous to the declaration of martial law and 
the arrival of the State troops, I must say that the county 
was in a most deplorable state of disorder. In fact a 
reign of terror, intimidation, and murder prevailed. The 
vilest passions of the worst element of the community 
seemed to be aroused and bent on evil doing, and no one 
dared to raise voice or hand in protest, and the saturnalia 
of crime went on unchecked. 

"Mounted men in disguise, — Night Riders, Ku Klux, 
or what you please to call them, — raided and re-raided 
the county, leaving a trail of blood wherever they went 
and filling the land with the wail of orphan and the ag- 
onized shriek of wife and mother. Then it was that the 
cry was raised, 'Murder and no law!' Both white and 
colored citizens, — the proscribed 'Yankee and Nigger,' 
— fell victims of this thirst for blood. Specific cases with 
uncontrovertible proof were not lacking, but the law was 
paralyzed, — the public conscience was dead. 

"Among the first to fall a victim to this thirst for 
blood was Capt. E. G. Barker, agent of the Freedmen's 
Bureau, with his office at Marion. In this case, as in 
many others, little care was taken at concealment. Cap- 
tain Barker was shot through the open window of his 
office In the early dusk. In the most public part of the 
town, and was left to his fate, no one daring to go to his 
relief. I was living on a plantation two miles from 
Marion, where the news of the shooting was brought 
to me by a colored man. I proceeded at once to the 
scene of the shooting, accompanied by Captain Haynes 
and four colored men. We found Captain Barker pros- 
trate on the floor, where he had fallen when shot, 
drenched In his own blood. He was unconscious. Two 
large buckshot, evidently fired from a shotgun, had en- 
tered his head, and two shot had shattered his wrist. 

"On an improvised stretcher, made from articles 



136 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

found In his office, we had him carried from the place, 
passing through a jeering mob of half drunken men as 
we emerged into the street. It was evident that the man, 
or men, who had done the shooting were among this 
mob. We had Captain Barker carried to our house and 
a doctor summoned, — J. H. Southall, an ex-Confederate. 
Subsequently Dr. Southall told me that he attended on 
Captain Barker at the peril of his own life, that he had 
been notified that if he did so it would be at the peril 
of his life. All honor to Dr. Southall. He gave Cap- 
tain Barker his closest attention, making daily visits, 
going armed himself as a precaution against attack. Dr. 
Southall was a Virginian, a Harvard graduate, and a sur- 
geon in Forrest's Cavalry. He frequently expressed him- 
self strongly against the lawlessness in the county. There 
were honorable, law-abiding men of both political parties 
in Crittenden County, but they were overawed by the 
desperadoes who set all law at defiance, arraying neigh- 
bor against neighbor, and bringing trouble and reproach 
upon all. 

"Captain Barker was a Christian gentleman; his only 
offense seemed to be in doing his duty faithfully as an 
agent of the Government. He organized Sunday Schools 
among the colored people, which was objectionable to a 
certain class of white people. He was zealous in safe- 
guarding the rights of the colored people in the matter 
of contracts for labor, but no less so in the inter- 
ests of the employer-planter. I know that he was scrupu- 
lously conscientious in the discharge of his duty, always 
counselling patience and forbearance on the part of the 
colored people, seeming to realize the fact that, the labor 
system of the South having been revolutionized, it be- 
came necessary to exercise tact and judgment in order 
to minimize the friction that would evidently arise be- 
tween employer and employees. 

"Captain Barker had rendered gallant service in the 
Union Army, as was attested by an empty sleeve. He 
served, I believe, in an Iowa regiment. When Captain 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 137 

Barker was shot I was holding a position as clerk in the 
Freedmen's Bureau, and was instructed to take charge 
of the affairs of the office. The inflamed condition of 
the county increased to such an alarming extent that hun- 
dreds of colored people flocked to my plantation for 
protection, and the situation became so threatening that 
I appealed, as an Agent of the United States Government, 
for protection, ^^ which appeal was answered by a lieuten- 
ant with a detail of United States soldiers reporting to me 
for duty. This detail was quartered on my plantation, 
acting as a guard for the Freedmen's Bureau only, and 
was withdrawn on the arrival of the State troops under 
Colonel Watson. 

"Previous to the open outbreak and the defiance of 
law, Captain Haynes and myself had taken no active 
part in the political questions that then agitated the 
county, being content to pursue our business as planters, 
and we only made a stand when personally and unjustly 
assailed. We held no office nor sought any. 

"On the departure of Colonel Watson and the Hel- 
ena detachment of State troops, the command of the 
Sub-Military District, with the two Crittenden County 
companies, was turned over to me. From this time until 
civil law was restored and the troops disbanded nothing 
of special interest transpired, our efforts being directed 
to the restoration of peace, harmonizing the discordant 
factions, and restoring confidence, with, however, but 
partial success. The unbridled passions in the absence of 
law had inflicted wounds that only time could heal. The 
seeds of discord had been sown and a bitter harvest must 
inevitably follow. . . ." 

My visit to Crittenden County to investigate the ques- 
tions heretofore referred to compelled me to pass 
through and return to the city of Memphis, Tenn., which 
was not only the headquarters of the Ku Klux organiza- 
tion in the South, but a place of refuge for the Ku Klux 



138 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

fugitives from justice from Arkansas. This trip sub- 
jected me to great personal peril. 

On the way to Memphis during the night at a land- 
ing on the Arkansas side a man with a gun took passage 
on the boat on which my staff and I were passengers. 
Of course he immediately became the object of close 
surveillance by a detective who, to avoid suspicion of 
being connected with me, had taken passage on the 
steamer at Clarendon, Ark., on its way to Memphis. 
That night, soon after this man came aboard, and while 
I was in the cabin at the front of the boat, the center 
of a group composed of my staff and others, he was 
observed by the detective outside the glass partition that 
separated the cabin from the passageway, slowly mov- 
ing backward and forward with his gun in his hand, 
peering through the glass and evidently trying to single 
out some person on the inside. After moving backward 
and forward and sometimes raising his gun and then 
lowering it again, he suddenly raised it to his shoulder 
and was taking aim when the detective, who had con- 
cealed himself nearby, instantly sprang upon him from 
the rear, and with the assistance of one of my officers 
disarmed him and placed him under arrest. When 
first seized and asked what he was doing he acknowl- 
edged that his sinister purpose was my assassination. 
Upon arrival at Memphis he was immediately sent 
to Marion . under guard, and placed in the custody 
of the commanding officer there. When I was about to 
say good-bye to General Upham to return to Little Rock 
he asked me what he should do with this prisoner. I 
instructed him to organize a military commission and 
investigate the matter fully before acting, — expecting, of 
course, that he would report to me the result of such in- 
vestigation. This he failed to do, and it was not until 
several years thereafter that I learned from an officer 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 139 

who had served at Marlon that the court, upon the 
prisoner's own confession, had found him guilty and sen- 
tenced him to be hanged, and that the sentence was car- 
ried into execution. Years afterward General Upham 
told me that this man, during his trial, had admitted that 
he was acting under orders but would not disclose the 
source from which they were received. 

I do not say that I would not have approved the pro- 
ceedings, but as they related to me personally I would 
certainly have given him every opportunity to divulge 
the names of his accomplices. Had they proved to be 
persons higher up, I would probably have remanded the 
matter back to the military commission for revision upon 
the theory that he was but a tool, and not acting on his 
own responsibility. 

On my way from Marion to my official home in Little 
Rock I stayed a few days in Memphis, Tenn., where, 
on the invitation of Colonel Beaumont, General Upham 
and I, accompanied by my staff, attended a performance 
at the New Memphis Theatre. We had no sooner taken 
our seats than we became the "observed of all observers." 
A description of my visit to Memphis and this event 
will be found in the following article from the Memphis 
Post:^^ 

"his visit in the city — INTERVIEWS WITH THE KU 
"kLUX BOLD TALK ABOUT ASSASSINATING HIM 

"Since Governor Clayton's arrival in this city on 
Tuesday evening, from a trip of inspection, accompanied 
by prominent military and judicial officers of his State, 
to the Headquarters of the militia force stationed in Crit- 
tenden County, he has been the leading theme of thought 
and speech of every citizen, be he a Ku Klux or a Re- 
publican friend. 

"With his staff he has occupied rooms at the Overton, 



I40 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

where, early and late, a continuous stream of friends 
wishing to pay their respects and of enemies anxious to 
gain his favor by obsequious pretensions of respect has 
poured through his room. Among the names of the 
prominent citizens and friends who have called to pay 
their respects are those of Judge Hunter, of the Crimi- 
nal Court; Judge Waldran, of the Municipal Court; At- 
torney-General Thorn; Prosecuting- Attorney of the Mu- 
nicipal Court H. E. Hudson; Col. S. B. Beaumont, Su- 
perintendent of the Little Rock Railroad; Judge Vance, 
of Mississippi, now stopping in the city, and prominent 
Republicans of this place, together with several large 
property owners; among them W. R. Greenlaw, Esq. 

"The interviews of these gentlemen have been of the 
most interesting character, and all have come away with 
a greater degree of respect, if possible, for the noble 
chieftain whose name has become a terror to the Ku Klux 
Klan which infests his State. 

"The rebels from the city and from Crittenden, many 
of whom have called upon him, have received the most 
cordial welcome and the kindest attention from him, and 
have also come away convinced that he is a worthy mag- 
istrate of his State, and one who demands nothing but 
justice to all. 

"A conversation which he had with a citizen from 
across the river is too full of facts for the public to lose 
the benefit of it. The citizen's object in calling upon the 
Governor was, like that of most of the rebels who vis- 
ited him, to learn when he intended to revoke martial 
law and disband the militia. Like the rest of his friends, 
the citizen pledged his honor as a gentleman that when 
those steps should be taken every good citizen in Crit- 
tenden would take measures immediately to enforce the 
laws and punish all offenders. The Governor replied that 
that was the result which he was seeking by the aid of 
the militia, and as soon as he became satisfied that the 
people would do what had been pledged, then they should 
at once be relieved of the militia. The promise pleased 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 141 

the citizen, and he plied his specious pledges more heart- 
ily and grew eloquent in extolling the character and wishes 
of the good citizens of his county. 

"In order to test the man's idea of a good citizen, the 
Governor asked him his opinion of Maj. J. F. Earle and 
B. C. Crump, of his county. With a look of surprise 
that the character of these men should be questioned by 
the Governor, the citizen replied with great emphasis 
that both were among the best citizens; that they always 
counselled order and quiet and obedience to the laws of 
the State. He would have expatiated a whole hour on the 
exemplary character of these men, probably, if the Gov- 
ernor had not relieved him of that trouble by telling 
him that Earle was the Commander of the 'Knights of 
the White Camelia,' and that Crump was the leading 
spirit and active worker in the organization ! The con- 
fusion of the citizen at this statement was sufficient to 
convince the Governor of the correctness of his statement, 
even if he had not had the additional evidence in the form 
of sworn statements from the members of the organiza- 
tion themselves, revealing the whole history of that law- 
less organization. 

"When it is expedient that the facts should be given 
to the public the Governor's information of the opera- 
tions of the outlaws in his State will be found to be per- 
fect. 

"Yesterday afternoon the Governor enjoyed a ride 
around the city. In the evening he attended the New 
Memphis Theatre, accompanied by his staff. Soon after 
his presence in the theatre became known the word was 
whispered around by the blood-thirsty rebels present, and 
they began to gather in little knots in the passage-ways 
skirting the theatre, and to talk in audible tones about 
assassination. 

"The epithets 'murderer, ravisher, and thief were 
mingled with expressions of vengeance to be heard in 
portions of the audience. One of the unterrified was 
heard to say to a comrade, 'How would you like a good 



142 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

dagger to throw at the villain?' — 'That would be all 
right,' was the flippant reply. The public officers pres- 
ent kept a vigilant watch, and the rebel fiends had not 
the heart to risk an assault, and the Governor, whose 
personal courage is of the highest order, returned to the 
hotel in safety." 

It having been noised abroad that we would attend 
the theatre, the audience was so large that many people 
could only procure standing room in the aisles near the 
entrance to the foyer. Frequently I observed them point- 
ing us out, and it was evident that we were the subject 
of their conversation. When the performance was fin- 
ished we found it difficult to make our way to the foyer, 
hence the theatre was almost completely empty when 
we reached the principal street leading from it. To our 
surprise the sidewalks on each side of the street for sev- 
eral squares were jammed with a hooting, howling mob, 
making it dangerous for us to attempt to jostle our way 
through it. Hence we took the middle of' the street as 
the safest way for us to reach our hotel, and as we 
walked In this strange procession we realized that to 
endure the insults of the mob was the "better part of 
valor," and although we did not show our apprehensions, 
we were all greatly relieved when we were again under 
the roof of our hotel. 

Many years afterward, Confederate Maj.-Gen. James 
J. Fagan, having, in the strange mutations of political 
events, allied himself with the Republican party and be- 
come the United States marshal for the Western District 
of Arkansas, described to me and others, among whom 
was my brother Judge WiUiam H. H. Clayton, a meet- 
ing of the original organization of the Ku Klux Klan in 
Memphis, held for the purpose of taking into considera- 
tion the question of my assassination by the Klan during 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 143 

my visit to Memphis. I do not recall any living witness 
to General Fagan's disclosures except my brother, who, 
in a letter addressed to me, January 9, 19 14, thus cor- 
rectly described General Fagan's statement: 

"In regard to the occurrence which took place at 
Memphis while you were Governor of Arkansas and 
went to that city, and while there with some of your 
friends attended the theatre. General Fagan told me 
that he himself was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and 
that he was at Memphis when you were there, and at- 
tended a large meeting of the Klan that was called for 
the purpose of taking into consideration your assassina- 
tion; that at that meeting a resolution was offered di- 
recting a certain committee to proceed to take your life; 
that its adoption was warmly advocated by leading men, 
but that he, General Fagan, and other prominent mem- 
bers of the Klan made speeches against it, alleging that 
you deserved death, but that it was not expedient, as it 
would destroy the sympathy for the South that had 
been worked up by the Klan and Democratic Party of 
the South generally, during the late Presidential 
Campaign. 

"That the ascendency of the National Democratic 
Party in the control of the general Government could 
only be had with the help of certain wavering Republi- 
can States of the North and West, and that they were 
finally prevailed upon to abandon the proposed assassina- 
tion." 

No one in Arkansas will doubt the veracity of Gen- 
eral Fagan. My brother, Judge William H. H. Clay- 
ton, was for twelve years the United States District 
Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, which 
Included in its jurisdiction at that time the Indian Terri- 
tory; for a period of eight years after separate courts 
were set up in Oklahoma he was one of the United States 



144 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Judges in that Territory. His veracity will be questioned 
by no one who knows him personally or by reputation. 

MARTIAL LAW IN CONWAY COUNTY 

Having described with as much brevity as possible 
the operations of the militia under the commands of 
Generals Catterson, Mallory, and Upham, I shall now 
describe martial law conditions and the operations of the 
militia in Conway County, which will complete the de- 
scriptions of the operations of martial law. 

On December 8, 1868, I issued a proclamation plac- 
ing Conway County under martial law, and In my message 
to the General Assembly of December 14, announcing 
that fact,^^ I referred but briefly to some of the events 
that caused my action. That the reader may judge of 
its justification, I shall now present to him a brief history 
of events not included in said message. 

Having received reliable information of serious dis- 
orders at Lewisburg, Conway County, that had resulted 
in unauthorized action of private individuals in trespass- 
ing upon the rights of colored citizens by breaking up a 
court and seizing their arms, which were their personal 
property, I resolved, before resorting to forcible meas- 
ures, first to give to the people of Conway County and 
the whole State an example of peaceful effort. 

In furtherance of this policy, on August 28, 1868, I 
chartered the little steamer Hesper, and on my invita- 
tion the following prominent citizens of the State, rep- 
resenting both political parties, accompanied me to Lewis- 
burg, the scene of the trouble: C. C. Scott; Hon. A. H. 
Garland; Hon. O. A. Hadley; S. L. Griffith; Col. Sandy 
Faulkner; Col. James Ryan; James Wolf, Esq.; S. H. 
Tucker; Col. W. S. Oliver, and the editor of the Little 
Rock Republican. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 145 

That night we arrived at Lewisburg and I accepted 
the hospitality of Mr. R. T. Markham, who under the 
Johnson administration held the position of Deputy 
United States Marshal and who was a Democratic par- 
tisan. We were immediately interviewed by prominent 
citizens, who all assured us of the peaceful disposition 
of the citizens of Lewisburg and vicinity, but the follow- 
ing incident forced me to doubt the truth of their asser- 
tions. Our host, who had a bright little daughter about 
ten years old, in describing a meeting held the day pre- 
vious to our arrival under the pretext of taking steps 
for the protection of the town against threatened negro 
aggression, had assured me that those attending this 
gathering had been absolutely unarmed. Another public 
meeting was called for the day after our arrival at 10 
o'clock A. M. While the citizens in large numbers were 
passing down the main street in front of Mr. Mark- 
ham's house to the meeting his little daughter looked 
out of the window and exclaimed: "Oh, Papa, the men 
haven't got their guns as they had the other day." I 
turned to Mr. Markham, whose face had flushed, and 
remarked, "Children and fools tell the truth." Then 
the subject was dropped. 

I here incorporate a copy of my speech ^'^ delivered 
at this meeting, — a speech that was based upon unques- 
tioned previously ascertained facts: 

"Fellow-Citizens : I have not come here in any par- 
tisan spirit, to stir up strife or to add fuel to the flames 
of discord that have threatened your county with such 
disastrous results. My mission is a peaceful one. I 
am here under the obligations of my oflice, to see that 
the laws are respected and enforced and that all per- 
sons who may be acting without authority of law desist 
and return peaceably to their homes. 



146 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"It is not my present purpose to fix the responsibility 
for the outrages that have disgraced your county upon 
the guilty parties. This is properly for the courts to de- 
termine. I am here to turn aside, peacefully if I can, 
the disastrous results that must overtake the people if 
they permit such illegal and unauthorized proceedings 
to continue as have taken place in your midst within the 
past few days. What little I have to say I shall say 
plainly. I shall not cover up my meaning with honeyed 
words. I desire you to know the attitude I occupy toward 
you in my official capacity and to impress upon your 
minds the necessity of an obedience to the laws as they 
now exist. I had information that your county was in 
a state of insurrection. It seems that a few days ago 
such was the case. I am rejoiced to find that better coun- 
sels have prevailed. I am sure that if the people properly 
understood the motives and intentions of the State au- 
thorities no further trouble would exist. I am unwilling 
to believe that there is any considerable number of citi- 
zens who are disposed to set the law at naught and en- 
gage in armed hostility to the State Government. I trust 
that the outbreak can be traced to a few evil disposed 
and irresponsible persons, and that the great mass who 
have been engaged in it have been led through misap- 
prehension to do that which a little cool reflection would 
have prevented. It seems that during the excitement, 
brought on by a few individuals, a very erroneous opinion 
was entertained that the colored people contemplated 
violence against the whites. Without investigating the 
facts, unauthorized persons proceeded to disarm the 
blacks, which at once led them to believe that the whites 
were disposed to commit outrages upon them. I cannot 
believe that the white people of this county are disposed 
to kill off the colored people; neither do I believe that 
the colored people ever contemplated for one moment the 
massacre of the whites. The history of the late war 
shows that the black man is not naturally bloodthirsty 
or revengeful; for did he not remain with and protect 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 147 

your families while you were fighting the battles of rebel- 
lion? 

"You would have had no trouble If, Instead of taking 
the law Into your own hands, you had called upon the 
sheriff of the county for protection when you thought that 
the negroes were organizing to attack you. He could have 
gone clothed with the authority of the law, and the truth 
would at once have been made manifest, and all cause of 
trouble have been removed. 

"Now I say to all, white and black, if you at any 
time apprehend danger, invoke the aid of the civil au- 
thorities. Look to them for protection, — you pay them 
to perform that duty. It will not do for us to interpret 
the laws to suit ourselves, or to assume the authority of 
their execution. Such a course would lead to Insurrection 
and perhaps to civil war. We must accept the laws as 
they are and not as we might wish them to be. A court 
of justice has been broken up by a mob, and one class 
of citizens has been disarmed by another. This is all 
wrong, illegal, and insurrectionary. That court must be 
reinstated and allowed to proceed. The right of the 
citizen to bear arms Is a constitutional right, — one that 
no citizen can be legally deprived of. The arms that have 
been Illegally taken from the colored men must be re- 
turned to them. I have the assurance that it will be done. 
When you, my colored citizens, receive your arms again, 
use them as good citizens should. To white and black I 
say that armed assemblages are Illegal; therefore, when 
you assemble for any purpose, do so peaceably and un- 
armed. If there Is any person In this audience who does 
not recognize the fact that the colored man possesses the 
same rights, privileges, and immunities — civil and politi- 
cal — that the white man possesses, let him pause and 
reflect, for I say to him that such is the case, and the 
colored citizen shall be protected in those rights. I am 
Informed that It has been charged that you are not to 
have a fair registration, and that this has caused bad 
feeling. Now, let me say a few words in regard to regis- 



148 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

tration. You shall have a fair registration, and a fair 
election too. When I say this I mean just what I say. 
Let no one misunderstand me, — the registration law shall 
be enforced. So far as my authority goes, every man who 
is entitled to register under the law shall be permitted 
to do so; and those who are disqualified shall not. It is 
not for me to say who can register and who cannot. The 
law fixes the qualifications of electors. I have no au- 
thority to interpret it to suit myself; neither have you. 
When the day of election arrives every citizen who is 
registered can vote in accordance with his own judg- 
ment. Those who are not registered cannot vote. 

"I understand that the militia law is distasteful to 
some. I have only to say that it is a law that will be 
enforced. The militia force will be organized in this 
county and throughout the State. The organization of 
the militia does not inaugurate a new principle of gov- 
ernment. It is as old as the Constitution itself. Every 
State has its militia. I am inclined to think that you do 
not understand this law. It is to preserve the peace 
and is only to be used when the civil authorities are un- 
able to enforce the laws. To all good citizens, who are 
willing to obey the laws, the militia need give no alarm, 
but rather an assurance of safety. If there be any who 
intend to resist the execution of the law, they may well 
object to the militia. But I say to all that so long as the 
civil officers can enforce the law there will be no armed 
force called into service. 

"And now in conclusion, I am for peace and I will ex- 
haust all peaceful remedies to preserve order and ex- 
ecute the laws. When peaceful remedies fail then I will 
resort to force — but this must be the last resort. 

"Let us have peace. Have we not suffered enough 
from war? We are just now recovering from its ter- 
rible effects. Providence has helped us with abundant 
crops, the lap of nature is full, her face is smiling, she 
invites us to stretch forth our hands and enjoy her 
rich gifts. Let us turn our whole attention to peaceful 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 149 

pursuits. Let us gather the harvests we have sown and 
build up our broken fortunes, and not by reason of our 
political differences plunge headlong into rebellion. For 
rest assured that if we sow the wind we may expect to 
reap the whirlwind. If the American people make po- 
litical mistakes they will rectify them. 

"Trust to peaceful remedies. Violent measures will 
accomplish nothing but ruin and desolation. 

"I have brought with me Colonel Garland and other 
prominent citizens of Little Rock of both political par- 
ties. The Colonel and I disagree upon the political issues 
of the day, but I am happy to say that upon the questions 
of peace and the observance of the laws as they exist, we 
both stand upon the same platform. 

"He will address you. I thank you for your atten- 
tion." 

Before I left to return to Little Rock I had the assur- 
ances of the most prominent men of Conway County that 
no further unauthorized action upon the part of private 
citizens would be had, and that the arms taken from the 
negroes would be returned to them, which assurances 
were afterward practically disregarded. 

The State Government had been in existence less than 
two months when this disturbance occurred. Had I 
then known what was afterward divulged to me by the 
"mysterious stranger," I would have had no parley with 
the Ku Klux of Conway County. This first effort at 
conciliation proved to be a mistaken policy, having 
been taken as an evidence of weakness on my part, 
and a fabric of lies was built upon it, among which was 
the charge of the Gazette, in its issue of August 28, 1868, 
that I had already started the negro militia to the scene 
of the disorder, and my pacific efforts were made the 
subject of ridicule. 

To illustrate the mendacity of the Ku Klux Organ, 



I50 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

soon after the breaking up of the court and the disarm- 
ing of the negroes there it published a communication 
from a "rehable gentleman of Pope County, of the high- 
est respectability," — as the Gazette of August 28, 1868, 
put it, — in which among other absolutely false state- 
ments appeared the following: 

"The citizens of that place (Lewisburg) feeling in- 
secure from known facts, and from reports constantly 
coming in, sent out Mr. Thomas Burchfield and Mr. 
George Bentley to ascertain the extent of the occasion 
of alarm and if possible to induce the parties (the ne- 
groes) who had assumed the hostile attitude to desist 
from the execution of their threats. Meanwhile some 
two or three hundred persons had assembled at Lewis- 
burg, to defend the place if necessary. [The meeting 
referred to by Markham's little daughter.] 

"Burchfield and Bentley left on their mission of peace 
at an early hour on the 25th, but when some three or 
four miles east of Lewisburg on the Little Rock road they 
were suddenly fired upon by a party of nineteen negroes, 
the volley wounding Burchfield, it is said by his physician 
mortally, and killing Bentley's horse. Both of these gen- 
tlemen are old and reliable citizens of Conway County 
and undertook the mission of peace for the single pur- 
pose of bringing about a cessation of hostilities and to 
preserve the peace. . . ." 

In this connection I insert the following extract from 
a letter dated February 11, 1907, from the late Dr. 
A. D. Thomas to me. Dr. Thomas was a gentleman 
of the highest standing in business circles, and a brother- 
in-law of the "old and reliable citizen" George Bentley. 

"... The Thomas Burchfield is probably the man 
who was killed between Lewisburg and Plummerville 
when the Ku Klux started out one night to make a raid 
on the negroes in that bottom. The negroes got wind of 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 151 

their coming and ambushed them, shooting this man in 
the bowels and scattering the balance of them. My 
brother-in-law, George Bentley, was with them, and came 
home minus the saddle on his horse and his hat, and 
told his mother that he was through with the Ku Klux. 
He was only 17 years old at the time." 

So it seems that the "mission of peace" these gentle- 
men engaged in was really a midnight raid of the Ku 
Klux upon a small squad of negroes who for once routed 
their oppressors and drove them from the scene in the 
utmost confusion. A ridiculous travesty upon Ku Klux 
chivalry I 

The facts relating to this entire disturbance, as sub- 
sequently ascertained, clearly showed that it was the 
purpose of the Ku Klux in Conway County first to dis- 
arm the negroes and then, when they were in a helpless 
condition, by repressive and terrorizing acts, to cause 
them either to abstain from voting or to vote the Demo- 
cratic ticket at the November election. 

INCENDIARY FIRES AT LEWISBURG 

Now came sudden information of a serious outbreak 
in Conway County, — an outbreak that I was able to meet 
with my eyes opened, and with information from sources 
on which I could fully rely. 

About December 4, 1868, I received information 
describing an incendiary fire at Lewisburg, of which, on 
December 7, 1868, the Republican published the follow- 
ing account: 

"ku klux KILL ONE MAN AND BURN THE VILLAGE OF 

LEWISBURG 

"... From the evidence it appears that six Ku 
Klux, wishing to gain a little notoriety, assassinated a 



152 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

colored man about two miles north of Lewisburg, 
Wednesday night, December 2 ; and after committing 
the chivalrous act passed into town and succeeded in 
destroying by fire one-half of the village. They com- 
menced operations by setting fire to Captain Matthews' 
Hotel which was destroyed, together with the Post Of- 
fice building, storehouses, and dwellings. All the books, 
letters, and papers in the Post Office were lost. The 
men were disguised, but it is thought they can be iden- 
tified, as being obliged to leave in a hurry they left be- 
hind them some important papers which may lead to their 
detection. . . ." 

This hotel belonged to two prominent Republicans, 
and it will be observed that the six men who set fire 
to it were disguised. The other buildings that were 
burned on account of their close proximity, so far as I 
know, were owned by Democrats, but that fact was evi- 
dently not taken into consideration by the incendiaries. 
Their disguises established their Ku Klux identity, for 
during the period covered by this work there never was 
an instance of Republicans using disguises to conceal 
their identity. The object of these reckless men was evi- 
dently to punish a political enemy. 

On the 15th of the same month the Gazette published 
the following letter: 

"Lewisburg, Ark., Dec. 4, 1868. 
"Editors Gazette: Yesterday morning about four 
o'clock Messrs. Gill and Matthews' hotel was discovered 
to be on fire, which was totally destroyed with its con- 
tents; also the storehouse of Burrow, Rankin & Co. was 
destroyed with its contents, except some one thousand 
or fifteen hundred dollars' worth, and that was nearly 
ruined with the rain and mud. Our smoke-house with 
considerable bacon, pork, lard, molasses, etc., etc., was 
totally destroyed. The saloons of R. T. Markham and 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 153 

Carroll & Bertram, with nearly all their contents, were 
destroyed. Our dwelling house was saved by great ex- 
ertion and work of the citizens. . . . Messrs. Burrow, 
Rankin & Co. and A. Gordon and lady hereby tender 
their heartfelt thanks to the citizens for their great ex- 
ertion in saving our property. 

"Your friend, 

"Anderson Gordon." 

On December 6, 1868, news came to me of the kill- 
ing of Thomas Hooper. It was alleged that Hooper 
had been arrested by the militia on account of the mur- 
der of a negro by the Ku Klux in a midnight raid. The 
cap of one of the participants, having inside the name 
of Hooper, was knocked off and afterward picked up by 
the wife of the murdered negro. It was charged that 
Hooper, while a prisoner in the hands of the militia, two 
days before the declaration of martial law, was killed by 
some one of the militia, and an attempt was made to 
justify the act on the ground that it was done while the 
prisoner was trying to escape. The killing of Hooper, 
whether by the militia or not, furnished an additional 
reason for my declaration of martial law in Conway 
County. 

The question may be asked: "Why did I not make 
the killing of Hooper the subject of an investigation by 
a military commission, as was done in other cases during 
the pendency of martial law?" My answer is that the 
civil authority had not been suspended there when Hooper 
was killed. The troops that were charged with this 
offense had not been called out by me, but were acting as 
a sheriff's posse. The matter was a local affair that came 
under the exclusive jurisdiction of the civil courts, which 
courts did take jurisdiction in the case by the arrest, trial, 
and acquittal of Captain Matthews and a colored man 



154 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

who were charged with the offense. Captain Matthews 
was subsequently murdered, but the particulars of his 
murder I am not able to give. For more complete infor- 
mation relative to the killing of Hooper I refer the reader 
to "The Contested Election Case of John M. Clayton vs. 
C. R. Breckinridge," on file in the Library of Congress, 
Washington, D. C, testimony of myself, pp. 539 to 542 
and 556 to 559; testimony of R. F. Hooper, pp. 521 to 
523, and testimony of W. H. Hooper, p. 522, 

The killing of the negro by the Ku Klux raiders, fol- 
lowed by the murder of Hooper and the incendiary fire 
just described, were my justification for my declaration 
of martial law in Conway County on December 8, 1868. 
About a week after martial law was declared these con- 
ditions were greatly aggravated by a second incendiary 
fire, which resulted in the destruction of the business 
houses of Breeden & Casey and Howard & Wells, and by 
the atrocious murder of James M. Casey of the first 
named firm, and his robbery of four or five hundred dol- 
lars, as near as I can remember, after which his body was 
left in the burning building to be destroyed by the flames. 

On December 20, 1868, the Gazette gave an account 
of this second fire at Lewisburg, from which I quote 
as follows: 

"another fire at lewisburg 

"... The following statement was made to us by 
a reliable citizen of Conway County, who is now in the 
city a refugee from home. It appears that on Wednes- 
day night last, the i6th, about 8 o'clock. Gibbons, with 
four companies of militia, commanded respectively by 
Gray, Williams, Roane, and Matthews — the company 
commanded by the latter are negroes — entered the quiet 
little village with demoniacal yells, shooting in every di- 
rection, and marched up to the store of Messrs. Breeden 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 155 

& Casey, fired a number of shots through the door, and 
then set fire to the building by pouring out upon the floor 
a can of coal oil and setting it on fire. The flames rap- 
idly spread and soon communicated to the storehouse of 
Messrs, Howard & Wells which, together with the for- 
mer, was entirely destroyed. Colonel Eagan's store ad- 
joining was saved by the almost superhuman efforts of 
the citizens, through the use of wet blankets placed upon 
the roof. During the burning Mr. Casey, of the firm of 
Breeden & Casey, was shot down by some one of the 
murderous villains, his pockets rifled of money, watch, 
etc., and his body thrown into the burning flames. His 
trunk was burst open and the entire contents appropriated. 
The militia, both white and black, while the fire was in 
progress consumed the time in rifling the buildings of 
their contents, reserving such articles as they desired for 
their own use, and burning such as could not be 
used. . . ." 

In contradiction of all the statements contained In 
the above article, I reproduce a communication from 
Capt. John J. Gibbons, commander of the militia sta- 
tioned at Lewisburg, dated December 23, 1868, and 
published in the Republican, December 30 of that year, 
and a number of supporting affidavits : 

"Editor of the Republican. 

. "Sir: I send you for publication in the Republican 
the particulars of a fire at Lewisburg on the night of the 
1 6th of December, 1868. The fire broke out and was 
first discovered in Messrs. Breeden, Billingly & Co.'s 
storehouse, which was burned down, and also Howard 
& Wells' store was totally destroyed by the fire. 

"I make this statement to refute a slander published 
by the Gazette, in which it alleges that the information 
was obtained from *a reliable citizen of Conway County 
who is now in this city a refugee from home.' 



156 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"ist. If that 'reliable citizen' is one E. W. Adams, 
he is not only a refugee, but also a fugitive from justice. 

"And if A. Gordon is the 'reliable citizen,' I will only 
refer to the affidavit of Lydia A. Gordon, his wife; 
James Gordon, his brother, and R. T. Markham and 
John Rankin, citizens of Lewisburg. 

"2d. The four companies, as alleged by the Ga- 
zette, did not come to Lewisburg on Wednesday, the i6th 
instant. 

"Captain Matthews' Company State Guards came to 
Lewisburg on Wednesday the 8th, and for their good 
conduct toward the citizens here I refer to the affidavits 
of John Rankin, R. T. Markham, and William Howard, 
all citizens of Lewisburg. 

"3d. I came to Lewisburg on the 14th instant, with 
twenty-two men. Captains Gray and Roane came after- 
ward. The 'demoniacal yells' of the four companies of 
militia were never heard by the cititzens of Lewisburg 
on the night of the i6th; this is shown by the affidavits of 
John Rankin, James Gordon, and others. 

"Nor was J. M. Casey murdered and robbed by the 
militia, and as to who is guilty of that outrage, see the 
copy of the verdict of Coroner's jury relating to the case. 

"4th. 'The superhuman exertions of the citizens of 
Lewisburg to arrest the fire' were aided by seventy-five 
militia men; see affidavits of John Rankin, Wells, Wil- 
liam Howard, R. T. Markham, and Lydia Gordon. 

"The militia, both white and black, 'while the fire 
was progressing' did all in their power to arrest and 
stop the fire, and were not 'rifling the buildings of their 
contents' as represented by the 'reliable citizen from Con- 
way County.' For proof see sworn statement of William 
Howard, A. Wells, James Gordon, and others. 

"The allegation that 'the town is now occupied by 
the ruffians who perambulate the streets shooting and 
cursing' is not true, as shown by affidavits of Rankin, 
Gordon, Howard, Wells, and others. 

"I would further request that the editors and pub- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 157 

Ushers of the Gazette disclose the name of the afore- 
said 'reliable citizen of Conway County,' and show who 
is responsible for their malicious slanders. 

"Respectfully, 

"John J. Gibbons, 
"Capt. Commanding Conway County." 

SUPPORTING AFFIDAVITS ^^ 

"William Howard, a citizen of Lewisburg, being duly 
sworn, deposes and says : I am one of the firm of Howard 
& Wells, merchants in this place; our house was burned 
on the 1 6th of December, 1868. I was not on the ground 
until the house had fallen in; there were 16 sacks of cof- 
fee, several bolts of calico and domestics, two barrels 
and about one-fourth of flour, some jeans, three trunks 
that had been taken out of our house. I did not see, hear, 
or know of any person plundering or pilfering. 

"I know a great many of the troops that are sta- 
tioned here; I believe them to be good citizens; never 
heard any threats made against any person or their prop- 
erty; never saw any person mistreated by them. I think 
nearly every person on the ground was militia, and they 
were all doing all they could to prevent as much as they 
could when I arrived. I have seen a printed report of the 
fire at this place on the i6th of December, 1868, which 
I denounce as a false and malicious slander, not only 
to the troops, but also to the citizens of this commu- 
nity. u^^ ^ Howard, December 22, 1868." 

"R. T. Markham, a citizen of Lewisburg, Ark., being 
duly sworn, deposes and says: I have never heard any 
of the militia that are stationed here at this place make 
any threats against any person or their property. I know 
nearly all of the militia here, and I believe them to be 
good citizens. There has been a guard near my house 
since the 17th inst. ; we have been respectfully treated by 



158 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

them, both black and white. I have been acquainted with 
Captain Gibbons a great many years and never knew him 
to mistreat anyone. I knew him during the war; don't be- 
Heve he would suffer his troops to commit any outrages 
if he knew it. I have seen a printed report of the late 
fire at Lewisburg and denounce it as a malicious slander 
against the citizens of this community. 

"R. T. Markham, December 22, 1868." 

"John Rankin, a citizen of Lewisburg, Ark., being 
duly sworn,- deposes and says: On the night of the 
1 6th of December, 1868, I was in our store, opposite 
Colonel Gordon's residence and about 40 yards from the 
storehouses that were burned. I was going from the 
warehouse with a lantern. I heard some men talking and 
laughing. They asked who that was with a light, and 
said put it out. I did not put it out; they seemed to be 
very merry. I thought it was some of the boys on a spree. 
If I were to see or hear persons going on purpose to 
burn a house or commit a robbery I don't think they would 
act like these men. I think it was about two hours after 
I heard these men that I heard the alarm of fire. I re- 
mained at our store some time after the fire broke out. 

"I saw no person plundering or pilfering anything. 
The greater portion of the persons that assisted in trying 
to arrest the fire were persons belonging to the militia. 
I have not heard any threats either against persons or 
their property. I think the negro militia came here about 
a week before the fire, and I don't know of any outrage 
committed by them since they have been here. 

"I think Captain Gibbons came about the 14th inst, 
with the white militia. I don't know how many he had 
with him. All the militia that I have noticed all take an 
interest in preserving the peace. 

"Ever since the fire there has been a guard stationed 
near our house, and they have treated our folks respect- 
fully all the time. I am acquainted with a great many 
of the militia and believe them to be good citizens; I 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 159 

have seen printed reports of the fire, and the acts of the 
mihtla at this place, which I denounce as a mahcious 

"John Rankin, December 22, 1868." 

"James M. Gordon, a citizen of Lewisburg, Ark., 
being duly sworn, deposes and says that I have never 
heard any threats against any person or their property by 
the mihtia stationed at this place ; on the night of the fire 
of the 1 6th of December, 1868, I got on the ground as 
soon as I could and assisted in stopping the fire; the 
greater portion of the men that were assisting belonged 
to the militia. I know a great many of the troops sta- 
tioned here, and I consider them good citizens. Never 
saw any person on the night of the fire pilfering or plun- 
dering anything. I heard somebody say that they saw 
somebody taking off some coffee, but paid no attention to 
it, I think Captain Gibbons brought the negro militia 
here about one week before the fire; I don't know of out- 
rages committed by the negroes. 

"When Captain Gibbons came with the white militia 
they made no attempt to commit any outrages. I have 
known Captain Gibbons a great while, both before the 
war, during the same, and since; always received kind 
treatment from him; while he was in the Federal Army 
that was stationed at this place during the war I never 
knew of any person being mistreated by him. 

"I have seen a printed report of the late fire at this 
place and denounce it as a malicious slander against the 
citizens of this community. 

J. M. Gordon, December 22, 1868." 

"W. L. Conley, a lieutenant in Captain Roan's Com- 
pany of militia, who, being duly sworn, deposes and says 
that on the evening of the i6th inst. he came into the 
town of Lewisburg in company with about 30 men of 
Captain Roan's company of militia; at the time the 
alarm of fire was given I was at Capt. J. J. Gibbons' 



i6o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Headquarters, and was ordered by him to take 50 men of 
the white militia and save all the property that I could, 
and if possible arrest the fire. I did so. The men came 
out promptly and acted nobly; by their exertions aided 
by some of the citizens, we succeeded in saving Colonel 
Eagan's dry-goods store, also D. B. Russell's drug-store, 
which otherwise would have been burned. After the 
fire had subsided I placed a guard on the goods we had 
succeeded in saving, to prevent any of them from being 
stolen; yet I saw very little of such disposition mani- 
fested. I have seen the Gazette's report of the reliable 
citizen of Conway County; I in common with all others 
present during the fire denounce him as a malicious liar. 
"W. L. CoNLEY, December 22, 1868." 

"A. C. Wells, a citizen of Perry County, Ark., lives 
across the river, opposite Lewisburg, Ark. On the night 
of the 1 6th of December, 1868, my storehouse was 
burned down; when I got on the ground a great many of 
our goods had been taken out of the house; there were a 
great many of the militia present; they all showed a dis- 
position to preserve all they could, and many of them as- 
sisted me to take care of our things; saw no person take 
anything whatever; I believe that It was by the aid of the 
militia that other houses were saved. 

"I have seen a printed report of the late fire at Lew- 
isburg, which I denounce as a false and malicious slander 
to the citizens of the community, and also to the troops 
that are stationed here, as they have acted as gentlemen 
as far as I know; never heard any threats by any person. 
"A. C. Wells, December 22, 1868." 

"Lydia Ann Gordon, being duly sworn, deposes and 
says, that I have never been mistreated by any of the 
militia ; on the night of the 1 6th of December, 1868, some 
men came by our house hallooing and making a great 
noise; after they passed I heard four or five reports of 
pistols or guns; they acted like drunk men; as they came 
back, some one threw something at our dog on the porch; 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS i6i 

since the fire there has been a guard every night near 
our house; they have treated me and my family respect- 
fully; the party that made the noise passed my house 
about six o'clock on the night of the i6th inst. 

"I first raised the alarm of fire about two hours after 
these men passed back. I live about 30 yards from the 
store that was burned. I did not see the men shooting; 
I saw a great many persons that were not citizens of the 
place assisting in trying to arrest the fire; I did not see 
any person plundering any thing that had been thrown 
out on the street. I have heard no firing on the street 
since the fire; a few moments before the discovery of the 
fire I heard a report of a gun or pistol which made a 
dead sound; I thought it was in the direction of the 
building that was destroyed. I knew Captain Gibbons 
during the rebellion and always received kind treatment 
from him, both to myself and family. From what I know 
of Captain Gibbons I don't think he would suffer his men 
to commit such outrages as the burning and robbing of 
the 1 6th inst. 

"Lydia Ann Gordon, December 22, 1868." 

This affidavit is especially significant in view of the 
fact that it is generally understood that it was upon her 
husband's statement that the Gazette based its article, 
published on pages 154-155. 

In addition to Captain Gibbons' letter and the affi- 
davits reproduced, the coroner's verdict on the death of 
James M. Casey fully disposes of these malicious false- 
hoods. I reproduce it from the Daily Republican, De- 
cember 24, 1868 : 

"State of Arkansas, 
"County of Conway. 

"Be it known that upon an inquisition begun on the 
17th day of December, 1868, at Lewisburg, Conway 



1 62 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

County, Arkansas, before L. B. Umphlet, one of the 
Justices of the Peace of said county, upon the view of 
the dead body of James M. Casey, by the oaths of 
James T. Young, William L. Brents, Thomas H. Har- 
ness, Thomas L. Wells, William Lloyd, Thomas A. Up- 
church, William Choat, David A. Wells, William H. 
Roberts, John A. Ferguson, John M. Bond, and William 
A. Upchurch, — twelve good and lawful jurors of said 
county, — the said jurors being in due form sworn, — do 
say that the said James M, Casey came to his death by 
being murdered for his money, in some manner unknown 
to this jury, and the house in which he was was set on 
fire and burned down on the night of the i6th day of 
December, 1868, in the town of Lewisburg, Ark., by the 
hands of one Pompey O. Breeden and one George Bent- 
ley. 

"In testimony whereof. As well the said Justice 
of the Peace as the said jurors, do hereunto respectively 
set their hands, this 20th day of December, A, D. 1868. 

"L. B. Umphlet, J. P., James T. Young, 

William Choat, Wm. L. Brents, 

David A. Wells, T. H. Harness, 

John A. Ferguson, Thomas L. Wells, 

John M. Bond, Wm. Lloyd, 

W. A. Upchurch, Thomas A. Upchurch, 
W. H. Roberts." 



"State of Arkansas, 
"County of Conway. 

"I certify that the foregoing Is a true and correct 
transcript of the inquest held over the body of James 
M. Casey, and finished on the 20th day of December, 
1868. 

"Given under my hand this December 20, 1868. 

"A. B. Gaylord, 
"County and Probate Justice of Conway County." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 163 

This leaves nothing for me to explain except that 
the George Bentley mentioned in the Coroner's verdict 
is the same George Bentley who, according to the 
Gazette's authority, was one of the two "old and re- 
liable" ^^ citizens of Lewisburg who went upon the "mis- 
sion of peace" which proved to be really a Ku Klux raid 
upon the negroes. 

Upon the receipt by me of an official report from 
Captain Gibbons of the highly satisfactory conduct of 
the troops under his command and the quieting effect 
produced thereby, supported by sworn statements from 
the best citizens of Lewisburg of both political parties, 
I revoked martial law in the county of Conway, and so 
informed the General Assembly in my message to the 
Legislature on January 12, 1869. 2*^ 



RESTORATION OF CIVIL AUTHORITY THROUGHOUT 
THE STATE 

On March 21, 1869, I informed the General Assem- 
bly by message of the revocation of martial law and the 
reestablishment of the civil authority in Crittenden 
County. This important message I now quote in its 
entirety : ^^ 

"Mr. Speaker: I am instructed by His Excellency, 
the Governor, to inform your honorable body that he 
issued a proclamation restoring the civil authority in the 
county of Crittenden, to take effect upon the receipt 
thereof by the officer in charge of that sub-district. He 
has also directed that at the same time the prisoners 
held under military order shall be turned over to the 
civil authorities, and the small force on duty there shall 
be disbanded. 

"With this action, the occupancy of counties by 



1 64 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

process of martial law ceases for the present through- 
out the State. 

"It is believed that the civil authorities in every county 
lately under martial law, as well as in the other counties, 
are able to enforce the laws and arrest and punish all 
desperate characters. 

"Repeated assurances have been received from the 
sheriffs and other officers in those counties that the peo- 
ple are not only willing but desirous to see a faithful 
and prompt administration of justice in their midst, and 
to bring all offenders to punishment. The feeling of ter- 
rorism and insecurity that existed so generally before the 
inauguration of martial law has almost entirely disap- 
peared. Men guilty of the most flagrant violations of 
the law were permitted to run at large or, if arrested 
and brought to trial, were in very few cases found guilty 
and made to suffer punishment, on account of the terror 
they and their friends exercised in their respective com- 
munities, or from a diseased condition of public senti- 
ment which, to a great extent, sympathized with acts of 
outlawry, especially upon the persons and property of po- 
litical or personal opponents, and which, in many cases, 
rendered the administration of the civil law a farce and 
a mockery. 

"This has given place to a more healthy spirit of 
determination on the part of the citizens to see the law 
enforced. 

"A large number of desperate men who formerly 
were a terror to the citizens and officers of the law have 
either been killed or driven out of the State, and assur- 
ances have been given that those who were driven away 
will not be permitted to return. 

"The Executive was informed that three desperadoes, 
formerly residents of Lafayette County, had returned 
to that county; but he is assured by the sheriff that this 
is not the case, and that if they should come back they 
can and they will be at once arrested and made to suffer 
the penalty of the law. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 165 

"Letters are constantly being received from all parts 
of the State, and from citizens of all political parties, 
bearing cheerful evidence of the very marked improve- 
ment in their respective localities. Lawlessness has been 
checked or put an end to, and quiet, security, and good 
order are being enjoyed by all classes. During the last 
three months but five murders have been reported to the 
Executive, while during the preceding four months nearly 
two hundred murders and attempted assassinations were 
reported. 

"A proclamation will soon be issued by the Execu- 
tive proclaiming as outlaws all murderers and despera- 
does who have yet eluded justice by fleeing from the 
State and directing all citizens or bodies of citizens to take 
them dead or alive, if they should attempt to return to 
the State. Some evils have resulted from the occupancy 
of counties by martial law to individuals in those coun- 
ties, but these evils have to a great extent grown out 
of the adoption of a necessary but very severe remedy 
which, while it has been of very great good to commu- 
nities and society at large, has fallen heavily upon some 
individuals. In some cases unauthorized bands of men, 
pretending to be militia forces, have committed depre- 
dations, robbing and plundering citizens indiscriminately, 
but this evil was checked and stopped altogether in the 
south and southwestern part of the State by an order 
from General Catterson, commanding that district, di- 
recting the citizens to shoot all men found in such bands 
acting without authority of the State Government; and 
still later by an order from the Commander-in-chief to 
the Sheriffs, directing them to hold all bodies of men 
passing through their counties who were not subject to 
military order. 

"In this connection it is urged by the Executive that 
your honorable body establish a Court of Claims to ad- 
judicate claims arising from the operations of the militia 
in counties under martial law, and for purchases and 
supplies In other counties. Said Court to sit for a suf- 



i66 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ficlent period In each county where martial law has ex- 
isted and holding a final settlement at the seat of Gov- 
ernment, being empowered to examine and adjudicate in 
reference to all supplies taken by the quartermaster and 
subsistence department, so that those who are properly 
entitled may receive pay for supplies furnished." 

DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT IN 
THE CASE OF TEXAS VS. WHITE 

At the December term of the United States Supreme 
Court of 1868 that tribunal, in the case of Texas vs. 
White, rendered a decision declaring valid the Recon- 
struction Measures of Congress and the State Govern- 
ments established thereunder.^- This decision placed 
the Democratic Party of Arkansas in the indefensible po- 
sition of having waged a violent and bloody insurrection 
against the Government of an equal and co-ordinate 
State of the American Union. 

How many lives would have been spared, how much 
untold suffering would have been avoided, and how much 
more rapidly the State would have prospered, had the 
Democratic leaders either awaited or sought the de- 
cision of the only tribunal that could settle the question, 
instead of resorting to the violent and insurrectionary 
proceedings I have described, — proceedings that were 
based solely upon the opinion of their Party National 
Convention that "we regard the Reconstruction acts (so 
called) of Congress, as such, as usurpations and uncon- 
stitutional, revolutionary, and void." -^ 

A CHARITABLE VIEW OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE KU 
KLUX KLAN IN ARKANSAS 

There can be no justification for the original organ- 
ization of this anarchistic order, but as to the operations 
of its individual members in Arkansas I am moved by a 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 167 

spirit of fairness to say that we should give due con- 
sideration to the great difference that existed at the close 
of the Civil War between the conditions of the discharged 
Union soldiers and those of the Confederates. The for- 
mer, with good money in their pockets and free trans- 
portation to their homes, by reason of the diversified 
industries of the North found all avenues of employment 
open to them, while the Confederates, on their return 
home, found themselves subject to the following condi- 
tions : 

They had no money that could be anywhere used 
for the purchase of the necessaries of life. The labor in 
the cotton fields was almost exclusively supplied by the 
freedmen, generally based upon a scale of compensation 
barely sufficient for the support of themselves and their 
families. The fact that a very large percentage was un- 
able to read and write excluded them from employment 
where such qualifications were absolutely essential. By 
reason of the non-existence in the South of the varied 
pursuits open to the Northern soldiers, many Confeder- 
ates found themselves in a state of enforced idleness, 
with starvation staring them and their families in the 
face. 

With the return of the Confederate Army came an- 
other class by no means to be overlooked, — the male 
descendants of the slaveholders, so graphically described 
in the following article from the Gazette of January 
15, 1867: 

"Misfortunes, it is said, are 'blessings in disguise.' 
Certainly the disguise is often so complete that we fail 
to detect the blessing. It is eminently proper, however, 
that we should endeavor to extract from their bitterness 
all the lessons of utility and consolation which tend to our 
improvement and lessen their sting. . . . 



1 68 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"For many years before the war it was the custom 
of our large slave-owners to send their sons to school 
and college, and when their education was completed 
they were put to some profession, or possibly into some 
mercantile house, as a mere form, but were never taught 
to labor. Indeed, it was almost impossible to confine 
them to any settled business, but with the restlessness pe- 
culiar to idleness they were found roving from one to 
another of our cities, stopping at 'crack' hotels, visiting 
the theatres, race courses, and other places of fashion- 
able amusement, always well dressed, and always, or 
nearly always, thoroughbred gentlemen. 

"The 'Governor,' or the 'Old man' stayed at home, 
ran the plantation, 'bossed' the negroes, shipped the cot- 
ton, sold it, bought a few more 'hands,' and with the bal- 
ance paid master 'Tom's' or 'Charlie's' debts. In time 
the 'Old man' was gathered to his fathers, and the boys, 
having married, divided the negroes and plantation and 
settled down to live as their fathers before them had 
lived. 

"They never learned to trade or follow any useful 
pursuit, and their professional studies were carelessly 
pursued with no intention of ever applying them 
to practice. But often a succession of bad crops and a 
few security debts would involve the pater familias, and 
the plantation and negroes would be swallowed up like 
a landslide in the Mississippi River, and my lord 'Tom' 
or 'Charlie' would be thrown upon his own resources for 
a living. Possessed of a good education, fine address, 
and handsome person, but with no knowledge of busi- 
ness or business habits, the poor fellow's prospects would 
be gloomy indeed. 

"How often have we seen young men of the South 
in whose veins flowed the proudest and best blood of our 
land become perfect wrecks under such circumstances!" 

To restore the political supremacy of the slave-hold- 
ing power was the purpose of the descendants of the old 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 169 

slave-holding aristocracy, and for the advancement of 
that purpose they employed the most violent and insur- 
rectionary methods. 



A CORRECTION OF A GENERAL MISCONCEPTION OF THE 
TRUE CAUSE OF SECESSION 

Before proceeding further I deem this an appropriate 
place to call the attention of my readers to what I con- 
sider a general misconception of the true cause that pro- 
duced secession and all that followed. Perhaps nine per- 
sons out of ten, especially in the North, would say It 
was the apprehensions of the slaveholders that they 
would lose their slave property and cause the social dis- 
turbances emancipation would entail. I have never asked 
a Northern man his opinion on this question that he did 
not express this view. Slavery unquestionably was a 
strong adjunct of almost predominating importance, and 
as handled by the Secessionists it served to consolidate 
the whole Southern people. 

From the time of the compromise that led to the 
adoption of the Constitution of the United States down 
to the period of secession nearly a hundred years had 
elapsed, during which time the slaveholders had domi- 
nated absolutely the slaves under their control. Hence, 
it was perfectly natural that the spirit of domination 
should have grown with their growth and strengthened 
with their strength. They imbibed it, as it were, with 
their mothers' milk until they began to consider them- 
selves as constituting a semi-lordship, superior to other 
classes of American citizens. 

During the period of which I have spoken they domi- 
nated the Government of the United States and, of course, 
in their own States they were absolutely supreme. So in- 
flated were they with the idea of their superiority that 



170 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

many of them actually believed that one Southern man 
could whip five "Yankees," and when their political power 
was about to be wrested from them they launched into 
secession for the purpose of establishing a Government 
which they could unquestionably control. 

At the time of secession there was no considerable 
party in the United States that favored compulsory manu- 
mission of the slaves. Mr. Lincoln did not favor it, but 
favored an amendment to the Constitution providing for 
the gradual abolition of slavery, based upon the consent 
of the States where it existed, with full compensation for 
the aggregate value of the emancipated slaves. I refer 
the reader to his Annual Message to Congress, Decem- 
ber I, 1862, published by authority of Congress in "Mes- 
sages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. VI, p. 136, 
as follows: 

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America, in Congress as- 
sembled (two-thirds of both Houses concurring). That 
the following articles be proposed to the legislatures (or 
conventions) of the several States as amendments to the 
Constitution of the United States, all or any of which 
articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said legis- 
latures (or conventions), to be valid as part or parts of 
the said Constitution, viz. : 

"Art. — . Every State wherein slavery now exists 
which shall abolish the same therein at any time or times 
before the ist day of January, A. D. 1900, shall re- 
ceive compensation from the United States as follows, to 
wit : 

"The President of the United States shall deliver to 
every such State bonds of the United States bearing in- 
terest at the rate of per cent per annum to an 

amount equal to the aggregate sum of for 

each slave shown to have been therein by the Eighth 
Census of the United States, said bonds to be delivered 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 171 

to such State by instalments or In one parcel at the com- 
pletion of the abolishment, accordingly as the same shall 
have been gradual or at one time within such State; and 
interest shall begin to run upon any such bonds only 
from the proper time of its delivery as aforesaid. Any 
State having received bonds as aforesaid and afterward 
reintroduced or tolerated slavery therein shall refund to 
the United States the bonds so received, or the value 
thereof, and all interest paid thereon. 

"Art. — . All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual 
freedom by the chances of the war at any time before the 
end of the rebellion shall be forever free; but all owners 
of such who shall not have been disloyal shall be com- 
pensated for them at the same rates as is provided for 
States adopting abolishment of slavery, but in such way 
that no slave shall be twice accounted for. 

"Art. — . Congress may appropriate money and 
otherwise provide for colonizing free colored persons 
with their own consent at any place or places without the 
United States." 

In this message, on page 137, he used the following 
language : 

"It Is no less true for having been often said that the 
people of the South are not more responsible for the 
original introduction of this property than are the people 
of the North; and when it is remembered how unhesi- 
tatingly we all use cotton and sugar and share the profits 
of dealing in them, it may not be quite safe to say that 
the South has been more responsible than the North for 
its continuance. If, then, for a common object this prop- 
erty Is to be sacrificed. Is it not just that It be done at a 
common charge?" 

The final emancipation of the slaves near the close 
of the war was a war measure, just as one would have 
liberated a large corral of Confederate horses so that 



172 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

they could not be used against you in an impending battle. 
It was not for the abolition of the slaves, but for the 
preservation of the Union, that the great mass of the 
Federal soldiers fought. So I believe we may conclude 
that the question of Southern political national suprem- 
acy, and not slavery, was the fundamental cause of se- 
cession. 

The dangers that actually arose at the close of the 
war from the unemployed ex-Confederate soldiers were 
forecast with what proved to be almost prophetic vision 
by Gov. H. Flanigan in his letter to Judge J. J. Clen- 
denin, one of the three Commissioners he had sent to 
confer with Gen. J. J. Reynolds, then commanding the 
District of Arkansas, upon a proposition which might be 
called "Flanigan's Plan of Reconstruction." He pro- 
posed to have all the Federal county officers serving under 
the "Murphy Government" recognized by himself, and 
all the Confederate county officers serving in the terri- 
tory controlled by the Confederacy recognized by Rey- 
nolds. This combination of Federals and Confederates 
was, according to Flanigan's plan, to call a Constitutional 
Convention for the purpose of laying the foundation, by 
the adoption of the new constitution, for the reconstruc- 
tion of the State. 

The ulterior purposes of Governor Flanigan and his 
friends were too transparent to escape the watchful eye 
of General Reynolds. The plan revealed an amazing 
lack of comprehension upon the part of its devisers of 
the well-established fact that the loser in the great game 
of war, after it has been played to a finish, must man- 
fully await the reckoning that is always sure to follow. 
It seems that Governor Flanigan supposed that with one 
hand he could lay aside the still smoking musket while 
with the other he could gather up the reins of govern- 
ment which he and his secession friends had snapped 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 173 

asunder and contemptuously cast aside some four years 
before. 

From the letter referred to, dated May 19, 1865, I 
quote as follows : ^* 

"The greatest danger to the quiet and safety of the 
country (as I suppose) will be from guerilla bands who 
may be recruited and held together under the pretense 
that they are defending a valid State Government which 
did represent a large majority of the people. We shall 
have many men who will be unfitted for the peaceful 
avocations of life, and whose morals will not restrain 
them from violence. An excuse to enlist such will in all 
probability be used, and although they cannot be trouble- 
some to the United States, they can destroy the less set- 
tled parts of the country, unless prevented by all judicial 



The situation of the returning Confederate soldiers, 
who were without money or the means of earning it, 
was Indeed desperate, and doubtless drove many of them 
into the Ku Klux organization, where the disguises and 
the sworn obligations of the members to protect one an- 
other under any and all circumstances afforded them op- 
portunities to Indulge safely In brigandage and pillage. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER VI 

^ Arlcansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 25-26. 

^ Federal War Records, Series i. Vol. 48, p. 627. 

^War of Rebellion, 102, Series i, Vol. 48, p. 600. 

* Federal War Records, Series i, Vol. 48, p. 632, letter from 
Asst, Adjt.-Gen. John Levering to Bvt. Maj.-Gen. F. Salomon, 
commanding First Division, Seventh Army Corps, post of Little 
Rock, dated May 27, 1865. 

^ General Catterson's statement before Arkansas House of 
Representatives, January 14, 1869; published by the Daily Repub- 
lican^ January 15, 1869. 



174 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

^ Pp. 99-102. 

''Daily Republican, September 4, 1868. 

® Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 226-227. 

9 Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, p. 408. 

^"Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 170-171. 

"Published in Arkansas Gazette, January 26, 1869. 

" Gen. R, G. Shaver, originator of the Ku Klux Klan in Ar- 
kansas, pp. 59-60. 

^^ Record of War Department, 20 L, 69. 

^* Report of Col. C. H. Smith, November 3, 1868, War Dept., 
Doc. No. 7-1467, S. A. G. O., 1869. 

^^ Published in Daily Republican, February 4, 1869. 

^^ Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 173-174. 

^^ Published in Daily Republican, September 2, 1868. 

^^All published in Daily Republican, December 30, 1868. 

^^ Pp. 150-15 1. 

2*^ Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 226-227. 

21 Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 732-3-4-5- 

22 McPherson's "History of Reconstruction," p. 452. 

^^ Eighth plank of Democratic National Convention, New 
York, 1868; McPherson's "History of Reconstruction," pp. 367- 
368. 

2* Official War Records, Series i, Vol. 48, p. 629. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 175 



CHAPTER VII 

MARTIAL LAW IN THE COUNTIES OF CRITTENDEN AND 
CONWAY NOT PERMANENTLY EFFECTIVE 

Of the thirteen counties in which martial law had 
been proclaimed subsequent events proved that eleven 
were permanently restored to lawful and peaceful con- 
ditions. Two were not — Crittenden and Conway. I 
deem it expedient to state in detail some of the events 
upon which I base this assertion, commencing with the 
county of Crittenden. 

MURDER OF CAPT. A. J. HAYNES 

On July 16, 1869, C. N. W^ilson, Justice of the Peace, 
wrote me as follows:^ 

"To His Excellency Gov. Powell Clayton, 

"Sir: I have the honor to submit the following re- 
port of perhaps the most brutal, cowardly, and atrocious 
murder 'of one more of the men whose only fault was a 
sincere desire to do his duty and obey the laws of the 
land' that has ever taken place within the limits of this 
State. 

"Capt. A. J. Haynes was at 6 130 on yesterday shot 
in the back with buckshot by one Clarence Collier; there 
were two loads from a double-barrelled gun shot into 
him. The assassin then, with the fiendishness worthy of 
a demon, dehberately walked up to where the body of 
Haynes was lying and fired five more shots into it with an 
army revolver. 



176 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"This was done in broad daylight and in the presence 
of three or four persons who made no attempt to stop 
the shooting, but looked on calmly and dispassionately. 

"This murder was premeditated; the murderer had 
his horse ready, had his well-filled saddle bags slung over 
the saddle, and when through with his deed of blood he 
walked to his horse and got on. One of the men in front 
of the store where the shooting took place handed him 
his coat. 

*'I feel deeply this murder. I have been associated 
with Captain Haynes for years, both in and out of the 
army, and know him to be as honorable, straightforward 
a gentleman as it ever has been my good fortune to be- 
come acquainted with. 

"There are to-day desperate characters scattered all 
through the county, and they mean mischief. Lives of 
other men have been threatened, and unless there is a 
vigorous enforcement of justice it is of no use for Union 
men to live in this county." 

In this same connection I quote from a letter from 
Colonel E. M. Main, under date of February 5, 19 10, 
which reads as follows : 

"On the departure of Colonel Watson with the Hel- 
ena detachment of State troops, the Command of the 
Sub-military District, with the two Crittenden County 
companies, was turned over to me. From this time until 
civil law was restored and the troops disbanded, noth- 
ing of special interest transpired; our efforts being di- 
rected to the restoration of peace, harmonizing the dis- 
cordant factions, and restoring confidence, with, how- 
ever, but partial success. The unbridled passions in the 
absence of law had inflicted wounds that only time could 
heal. The seeds of discord and strife had been sown and 
a bitter harvest must inevitably follow — and Captain 
Haynes paid the price with his life. He was shot from 
behind in the back. I had previously left the county." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 177 

The day thereafter the Memphis Post published the 
following account of the assassination i^ 

"dastardly assassination 

"Another of those most dastardly assassinations of 
ex-United States officers by rebel desperadoes which have 
blackened the history of the South so many times since 
the War occurred last evening at about half past six 
o'clock, at the little town of Marion, the capital of Crit- 
tenden County, Ark., which lies across the Mississippi 
from Memphis. Capt. A. J. Haynes, formerly a gal- 
lant officer of the Third Colored Cavalry, was shot in 
the back and instantly killed, without a word of warn- 
ing, by Clarence Collier. It appears that Captain Haynes 
had just returned from a trip to Memphis, had stepped 
out of the hack which runs from Mound City to Marion, 
dropped into Justice Wilson's office for a moment, and 
started to walk to his place, a mile or a mile and a half 
distant. On the best terms with all the citizens of the 
county, he had no apprehensions of danger. He had, 
however, barely turned the corner of Mrs. McAllister's 
when Collier, who had apparently been lying in wait for 
him, came out from a grocery on the opposite corner of 
the street. Haynes was leaving, and without a word of 
warning Collier drew a bead upon him with a double-bar- 
relled shotgun and fired. The charge took effect in Cap- 
tain Haynes' left side. The assassin instantly discharged 
the contents of the second barrel into his back. The 
Captain fell upon his face a corpse. But the vengeance 
of the brutal fiend was not satisfied. He advanced 
toward his prostrate victim and emptied his revolver into 
his dead body, riddling it with balls. Two lodged in his 
head. The assassin coolly returned to the grocery whence 
he issued to do his bloody work, received his coat. It Is 
said, from the hands of Gilbert Dowell, mounted a horse, 
evidently prepared for the occasion, and rode out of 
town undisturbed. It Is reported that besides Dowell, 



178 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

John McClung and Captain Chick were in or about the 
grocery referred to during the assassination. These men 
are also reported as having left the town as soon as 
the excitement began to spread. The citizens rushed out 
on hearing the reports of the shotgun and pistol, but had 
not recovered from their consternation ere the assassin 
was beyond their reach. The colored people who were 
warmly attached to Captain Haynes, some of whom had 
served with him in the army, frenzied with rage, seized 
any arms at hand, mounted themselves as best they could 
and followed the trail of the murderer. They were out 
all night and are still hunting him in the cane-brake in 
the southern part of the county. The sheriff gathered 
a posse, armed them, mounted them, and started for the 
river, expecting that Collier would attempt to effect a 
crossing to this side of the Mississippi. The county is 
on the alert and apparently sincere in its determina- 
tion that the cold-blooded murderer shall not go unpun- 
ished. Parties from Jones' Landing, a small place about 
twenty-five miles below Memphis, on the Arkansas shore, 
report Collier as passing there on a jaded horse about 
ten o'clock last night. 

"Clarence Collier, the assassin, is a young man about 
twenty-one years of age, slim build, weighing about one 
hundred and thirty-five pounds, with black hair, dark 
eyebrows, and a small dark mustache. As young as he is, 
it is said that he has killed no less than five men. It 
will be remembered that young Bethel, a son of our well- 
known citizen, R. C. Bethel, was killed by him a year 
or so ago. We are informed that Haynes and Collier 
had never had any hard words. Collier, having been 
connected with the Ku Klux, as alleged, fled from the 
county; when the militia left he returned and assured 
Haynes that he had returned to live peaceably with all 
men. The relations between them are understood to 
have been of an entirely friendly character. Indeed, we 
are assured that Captain Haynes was living on apparently 
the most friendly terms with all the citizens of the county. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 179 

He interfered with no one, and since the advent of the 
militia was molested or threatened by no one." 

To show the vindictive spirit and mendacity of the 
anti-reconstruction newspapers of Memphis, Tenn., I 
quote as follows from the Memphis Appeal, of July 
17, 1869:^ 

"About half past five o'clock Thursday evening a 
rencontre occurred on Front Street, Marion, Ark,, be- 
tween Captain Haynes, the late infamous commander of 
Clayton's militia, and Clarence Collier, which resulted 
in the death of Haynes. The affair is thus described 
by an eye witness : 

"Collier was in McClung's grocery, where he had 
previously left his double-barrelled gun. He had been 
fishing in the morning and had not caught any fish, and 
expressed a determination to go squirrel hunting. Tak- 
ing his gun, which had been loaded with buckshot for 
some time, he started out of the grocery and walked 
toward his horse, which was hitched a short distance off, 
remarking as he did so, that if he 'could not catch any 
fish he intended to have some squirrels.' He had hardly 
said that when he encountered Haynes, who was walking 
down the street. As soon as Haynes saw him he stopped 
and put his hand behind him as if to draw a pistol, a 
habit of his, by the way, whenever he met any young 
men, several of whom (and Clarence among the num- 
ber) he had recently threatened to shoot at sight. As 
soon as he observed this motion of Haynes', Clarence 
dropped his gun to a level and fired, pouring a load of 
buckshot into his left side. Haynes did not fall, although 
terribly wounded, but turned and faced Collier, — still at- 
tempting to draw his pistol. As he did so Collier poured 
the other load of buckshot into his breast and body, and 
he fell to the earth calling for help. Collier, on this, 
took his gun, which was now empty, in his left hand, and 
drew his pistol, being five or six paces from Haynes, and 



i8o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

fired one shot at him, the ball taking effect In his body. 
He cocked his weapon again and levelled It at his victim, 
but the cap snapped. A second attempt was, however, 
more successful, and the pistol exploded, the ball striking 
Haynes In the head and producing Instant death. 

"Collier, after assuring himself that he had finished 
Haynes, put up his pistol and remarked, as If to himself, 
'You, Haynes, will draw a pistol on me again, may be!' 
then walked deliberately to his horse, mounted him, and 
rode off. 

"The affair produced the most Intense excitement in 
Marlon, and the news of Haynes' death spread like wild- 
fire, especially among the negroes. In a few minutes 
Marlon was full of an infuriated mob of them, who 
vowed vengeance against not only Collier, but all the 
young men of his acquaintance, especially McClung, 
Dowell, and Bellows, who were with him previous to the 
shooting. Squads of them, heavily armed and mounted, 
set off in pursuit of him and scoured the country for 
miles, visiting every house and hut, but up to noon yester- 
day they had failed to find him. 

"The steamer Cheek, on landing at Apperson's place, 
some miles below the city, night before last was boarded 
by one of these parties, and not until her officers assured 
them in the most solemn manner that Collier was not 
aboard would they allow her to proceed on her way. 

"A gang of these who remained in Marion, drunk 
with whiskey and excitement, burst open Rice's store, os- 
tensibly to search for some of the young men. Not find- 
ing them they gutted the house of everything portable, 
amounting to about $1500 or $2000 worth of groceries 
and dry-goods. After cleaning it out they set fire to it 
and left. Fortunately the flames were discovered In time 
to put them out. 

"Another gang went to the house of McPeak, where 
there were young people sitting up with the corpse of his 
daughter. They clattered up to it in a most boisterous 
manner, and when they stopped at the gate they fired a 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS i8i 

volley into the house. Two young men who were pres- 
ent took to the woods, and we understand made their 
way safely to the city yesterday. 

"We learned yesterday evening that a perfect reign 
of terror existed in the country around Marion, and that 
all sorts of excesses were dreaded. We were informed 
that one of the roving squads of negroes caught a white 
man near Mound City about 1 1 A. M. yesterday and 
whipped him nearly to death. 

"Later. — Since writing the above we learn that the 
police of this city yesterday evening arrested a Mr. J. 
T. Bellows (one of the gentlemen whom the negro mob 
compelled to flee from Marion as detailed above) on the 
charge of being accessory to the 'murder,' as they are 
pleased to term the killing. He was confined in the Ad- 
ams Street station. As soon as his arrest was made 
known to Colonel Lysle, of the law firm of Brown & 
Lysle, he immediately made efforts to obtain a writ of 
habeas corpus. Late in the evening a warrant was issued 
for Bellows from Squire Foley's office, and he was sent 
to jail to await an examination, which will take place 
this morning." 

From the Memphis Ledger I quote as follows: 

"Gallant Clarence Collier! The blessings of an op- 
pressed people go with you, and whenever the clouds lift 
you shall be known and honored throughout the lands 
as the William Tell of Crittenden County, Arkansas." 

In vindication of the character of Captain Haynes I 
reproduce a communication from twenty-nine reputable 
citizens of Crittenden County, — of both political parties, 
six of whom were officials, — addressed to the Memphis 
Appeal, in answer to that paper's false account of the 
murder of Captain Haynes and their vicious attack on 
his character: 



1 82 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"Editors of the Appeal, 

"Gentlemen: We, householders and property own- 
ers of this county, respectfully ask leave to present a 
few facts and suggestions for your consideration. Your 
strictures on the death of Captain Haynes are totally 
at variance with the facts, and are producing in this 
county a bad state of feeling. We want peace, quietness, 
and order; and we ask you, for God's sake, to desist in 
the publication of such articles as lately appeared in the 
columns of your paper in reference to this matter. 

"We deplore the death of Captain Haynes and espe- 
cially so the manner in which it was committed. The 
man Collier, who so foully assassinated him, was a des- 
perate and lawless character, — an ulcer on the commu- 
nity, — while, on the contrary, Haynes, no matter what 
his politics may have been, — and many of us differed 
honestly with him, — has done more, or as much, to serve 
and advance the material interests of this county as any 
man in it. Though a prejudiced man, he was earnest, 
hard-working, and honest, and as a friend and a neigh- 
bor Captain Haynes was equal to any. He was foully 
murdered. The verdict of the coroner's jury and the 
examination of the body by the physcian. Dr. T. C. Whit- 
sett, all serve to establish the fact that he was shot in 
the side and back without a moment's warning. It was a 
deliberate, cold, and brutal murder." * 

As to the character of Clarence Collier, he was at 
the time of this murder a fugitive from justice on account 
of the murder of George J. Bethel, and for his appre- 
hension and conviction I had previously issued a reward 
of $500. 

Some of the prominent Memphis newspapers, out- 
rage machines, ground out from day to day, principally 
for Northern consumption, accounts of outrages in Crit- 
tenden County, nearly all of which were pure fabrica- 
tion. Even the Gazette, with all its unfairness, found it 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 183 

necessary in its issue of January 26, 1870, to call a halt 
upon one of these disseminators of false information, the 
Memphis Appeal, in the following language : 

"Crittenden. The following accounts of outrages in 
this county are condensed from the Memphis Appeal's 
sensational accounts, many objectionable statements being 
suppressed. We could wish that our esteemed contem- 
porary would put a curb on its reporters in their recital 
of events transpiring in Arkansas. While highly var- 
nished reports may have a tendency to make a paper 
sell, we opine that a true statement of facts would ren- 
der the reader much more capable of forming his opinion 
as to the condition of things in Arkansas; and we re- 
spectfully submit that the Appeal is doing our State a 
great injury, unintentionally, by giving currency to re- 
ports such as appear in its issue of the i8th of January." 

Observe, too, the following extract from the Helena 
Clarion of July 29, 1870, a conservative newspaper with 
Democratic proclivities : 

"There is no doubt but that many of the outrages we 
hear spoken of never occurred. Most of the readers of 
the Monitor remember that that paper asked of the Mem- 
phis papers that they should stop their accounts of out- 
rages committed by the militia, as the men upon whom 
they stated the outrages were committed were not in 
the county of Crittenden. Some had been dead for years, 
some had moved away long ago, and others never had 
been there. These papers got hold of some five or six 
names, and they have the poor fellows murdered almost 
every day, and in the most horrible manner, when there 
are no such men in existence." 

I considered the close proximity to Memphis, Tenn., 
the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan of the South, and 
the violent and virulent sentiments existing there as the 



1 84 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

cause of the continuing lawlessness in Crittenden County. 
To have prevented such pernicious effects would have re- 
quired the permanent occupation of that county by a 
military force, which remedy I regarded as impracti- 
cable. 

The virulence of the diseased condition in Crittenden 
County was still manifest some twenty years later. In 
1886 the Republicans in that County had a majority of 
1,346. They could easily have elected a complete Re- 
publican ticket, but in order to preserve friendly relations 
with the Democrats, who were then in power, they agreed 
upon a compromise ticket, which gave to the Democrats 
the important offices of sheriff and treasurer and some 
minor offices, and the balance of the ticket to the Repub- 
licans. This ticket was elected without opposition. 

This arrangement continued until the election two 
years thereafter, when, without any notice whatever, 
the Republicans thus elected were confronted by a 
body of armed men, and they and about twenty other 
leading Republicans were driven from the county. I 
know that those officers and citizens remained in exile 
for a number of years. Whether or not they were ever 
allowed to return I am unable to say. These facts were 
stated by me in a speech delivered to a large gathering 
at the State House in Little Rock, and were never denied. 

In the argument of Clifton R. Breckinridge before 
the Congressional Investigating Committee in the case of 
Clayton vs. Breckinridge, after speaking of the feuds 
that sometimes grow out of family grievances, he said: 
"Judge Cate told me, and I, of course, have no hesitation 
in stating it, that when General Clayton was in Critten- 
den County it took the earnest efforts of conservative 
citizens to keep men who were exasperated in this way 
from killing him." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 185 

I suppose the instance referred to by Judge Cate was 
the following: In 1889 Colonel Featherstone was a can- 
didate for Congress on a joint Republican and Union 
Labor ticket. I had promised him that I would try to get 
the colored vote in Crittenden County in line for him, 
which was very important if he were to be successful. 

For that purpose I went to Marion, Crittenden 
County, accompanied by Colonel Featherstone and an- 
other gentleman, where I addressed a political gathering. 

As I had intended to leave there on the night train, I 
had left my grip at the Marion depot. However, some 
time before the train was due I was secretly warned by a 
friend, who was also a Ku Klux, that the Klan had met 
and passed a verdict of death upon me and that it was to 
be carried into execution that night when I attempted to 
board the train. 

In casting around for a means of escape I remem- 
bered that about three miles south of Marion there was 
a small railroad station that was seldom used by the 
Marion people. I concluded to go there and, if possible, 
take a train at that point. Accordingly I went to the 
Marion depot to obtain my grip. 

While there I learned from the ticket agent that the 
train I had intended to take was five hours late, which 
would make it arrive at Marion about midnight. It was 
that fact alone that saved my life, for the Klan had evi- 
dently learned of it also, and as they felt that they had 
me securely trapped they relaxed their vigilance. 

Therefore, without attracting their attention, I got a 
bright-eyed little boy to carry my grip and under cover 
of night we started on foot for the small railroad station 
outside of Marion. The road lay through dense woods, 
but fortunately we did not meet a single human being. 

When we arrived I found that the small waiting room 



1 86 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

was full of people, but as It was dimly lighted by a single 
oil lamp in the ticket agent's window I was able to slide 
into a dark corner unobserved. There I remained until 
the train came and as it was lighted in the same way I 
entered and obtained a seat without being recognized by 
anyone. 

The train was westbound. I had an engagement to 
speak the next day near the foot of the mountains, where 
I arrived in safety and where I filled my appointment 
surrounded by friends. 



I NOW COME TO CONWAY COUNTY 

Martial law In Conway County existed only for a 
period of about two weeks. When revoked Its work 
had not been fully performed. The criminal class that 
had made martial law necessary was still extant, sowing 
the seeds which eighteen years later brought forth their 
pernicious growth. 

I regretfully admit that a more searching exercise 
of martial law in this county might have prevented the 
disorders and series of crimes that culminated in 1889 
in the assassination at Plummerville, Conway County, of 
my brother, John M. Clayton, while he was taking testi- 
mony in the contested election case of Clayton vs. Breck- 
inridge. 

Although about twenty-five years have elapsed since 
this monstrous crime was perpetrated, I do not feel that 
I am the proper person to present a detailed account 
of it. I shall, therefore, confine myself to a description 
of the conditions existing in Conway County which led 
up to it, and shall present some observations concern- 
ing the false pretexts that were invented to disguise its 
political character. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 187 

CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1 888, SECOND DISTRICT 

In the year 1888 an election was held for the Second 
Congressional District, which included Conway County. 
Clifton R. Breckinridge was the Democratic candidate 
for Congress and John M. Clayton the Republican. In 
the voting precinct of Howard, which included the town 
of Plummerville, Conway County, the following fraudu- 
lent and illegal proceedings occurred which culminated in 
the assassination of John M. Clayton on the 29th of 
January, 1889. 

The regular judges at this election were T. C. Her- 
vey, Ransom Hayes, and Enoch Armstead. After spend- 
ing some time in procuring a place to hold the election, 
which was finally held in the old McClure house, Hervey, 
with the two other judges present, declared that the polls 
were to be opened. Objections based upon the alleged 
irregularity of Hervey's appointment were raised as to 
his right to serve, and the matter was submitted to the 
bystanders by Enoch Armstead, one of the judges. 
On an affirmative vote Hervey's election was ratified 
and he served throughout the election. After this ques- 
tion was settled Hervey arose and said: "Boys, you 
tried to keep me out, and now I will keep you out, and 
I nominate Bill Palmer and W. T. Hobbs, and all that's 
in favor of Mr. Palmer and Mr. Hobbs being elected 
as judges say 'aye'." Without putting the negative vote, 
he declared Palmer and Hobbs elected, sent for a justice 
of the peace, and they were sworn in. Whereupon the 
two regular judges, who had thus been excluded, at- 
tempted to open a poll elsewhere, but were prevented 
from doing so by Charles C. Reed and James Lucas, two 
Democratic deputy sheriffs who lived at Morrillton 
and who, on the day of the election at Plummerville, 
under the instructions of the usurping judges, went down 



1 88 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

to where the two Republican judges were preparing to 
open the polls and prevented them from doing so under 
threat of imprisonment.^ 

For this act these two deputy sheriffs were indicted 
and convicted in the United States Court. Hervey, 
Hobbs, and Palmer were indicted by the United States 
Court for interfering with the regular judges of elec- 
tion, which resulted in the conviction of Hervey and the 
discharge of Hobbs and Palmer.*' 

After the close of the election held by Hervey, Hobbs, 
and Palmer, Hervey, accompanied by the United States 
Supervisor, Charles Wahl, carried the ballot-box around 
to different places, returning later to the polling place, 
where they found awaiting them Hobbs, one of the judges, 
and Bowdrie, one of the clerks. For the alleged pur- 
pose of getting more stationery and light, Hervey ab- 
sented himself; but at Wahl's request he left the ballot- 
box with Hobbs and Bowdrie, remarking as he went out 
that if anything happened to the box he would not be 
responsible.'^ 

He did not return within a reasonable time; so Bow- 
drie, for the alleged purpose of looking for him, also 
left. A few minutes after Bowdrie left some one came 
to the door whom Wahl believed to have been Ollie 
Bentley, the deputy sheriff, and asked if the counting had 
been commenced. Upon Wahl's replying that it had 
not, the man at once left. Immediately after this inquiry 
was made, four masked men with revolvers entered 
through the same door, one of whom grabbed the ballot- 
box and poll book, which were lying upon a counter, and 
exclaimed: "God damn you, we'll show you how Con- 
way County goes," and another said to Hobbs, "Give 
us them papers and that damn quick," whereupon two 
of them, with their weapons pointing toward the judges, 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 189 

walked out backward with the ballot box and poll book 
in their possession, leaving the other two behind to cover 
their retreat. These remaining two, after seeing the 
theft accomplished, also backed out of the room in the 
same manner.^ 

The entrance of the masked men immediately after 
Bentley's inquiry as to the counting of the votes makes 
it almost certain that he must have seen them, which 
would have made it his duty as deputy sheriff to have 
arrested them. 

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF UNITED STATES 
SUPERVISOR^ CHARLES WAHL 

On the 1 6th of December, 1888, about one month 
after the above occurrences, while Charles Wahl and 
others were engaged in a game of cards at Dr. Bradley's 
office in Plummerville, Wahl was shot through a glass 
door. The ball cut a piece off of one ear and came out 
at the back part of his neck, leaving a deep gash.^ 

The reader will naturally ask: What was the motive 
for the attempted assassination of Charles Wahl? It 
was the knowledge that he possessed as to the illegality 
of the election, including his belief that Deputy Sheriff 
Bentley was the man who had asked the question about 
the counting of the votes, which might all be made the 
subject of a judicial investigation before the United States 
Court, and consequently endanger the unravelling of the 
whole infamous proceedings. 

This view is sustained by Bentley's testimony before 
the Congressional Investigating Committee. When he 
was asked by this Committee as to his motives in desir- 
ing a compromise which would terminate the contest pro- 
ceedings by giving to John M. Clayton all the votes he 
was entitled to, he testified as follows :^® 



I90 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"Q. What induced you to make that proposition to 
Coblentz, if you made it at all?" 

"A. My dread of trouble and getting into the Court 
down here." (In Little Rock.) 

"Q. Why did you have a dread of trouble with this 
Court?" 

"A. Because I heard that Charlie Wahl had said 
he had seen me down there (Plummerville) that night." 

"Q. Had any charges been preferred against you?" 

"A. No, sir. No other than rumors, and it was ru- 
mored that I was connected with the affair." 

The attempt upon Wahl's Hfe made such an impres- 
sion on him that he left the county, not again to return. 
The failure to stop his mouth by the assassin's bullet left 
nothing open to Deputy Sheriff Bentley and his confed- 
erates but to stop the contest proceedings, — so full of 
disgrace and peril to the Democratic party of Conway 
County, — by the assassination of John M. Clayton. 

Every consideration of decency on the part of Clifton 
R. Breckinridge, who was personally so deeply interested 
in the outcome of the contest proceedings, demanded a 
dignified non-interference with the actions of the authori- 
ties in the investigation of the assassination of John M. 
Clayton. Instead, from the testimony of Governor Eagle 
and from Mr. Breckinridge's own statement it would ap- 
pear that he was in charge of the whole procedure. 

If he had wished to render any assistance he should 
have suggested cooperating with me and my brothers. 
This he did not do and no message of condolence was re- 
ceived by any of us from him. Indeed, his hatred for 
me was so intense that every theory he devised was based 
upon the supposed antagonism of the assassin to me, and 
he labored to give the impression that my administration 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 191 

of the affairs of the State had been such that it was a 
sufficient reason for this atrocious murder. 

He spent two or three weeks in Washington devising 
and spreading the theory that the murder was not politi- 
cal, but a case of mistaken identity on the part of the 
murderer, who, according to Mr. Breckinridge, had 
thought that he was killing me. After this theory had 
been industriously circulated by Mr. Breckinridge and 
his friends he was forced to abandon it on account of 
the lack of one iota of sustaining testimony. 

But this failure did not discourage him and he imme- 
diately fell headlong upon another theory which, he an- 
nounced in Washington, when investigated would make 
the matter "as clear as the noon-day sun." This story 
was that John M. Clayton had been murdered by Thomas 
Hooper, a resident of California, in revenge for the kill- 
ing of his father by "Clayton's militia." 

Upon this theory Mr, Breckinridge frequently con- 
sulted with Governor Eagle and with Carroll Armstrong, 
the Chairman of the Democratic Committee of Conway 
County. Governor Eagle's investigation of this version 
was very limited, but it was sufficient to show the false- 
ness of this surmise, as it was proved that the party ac- 
cused of the murder had been bed-ridden for over a year 
previous to the murder. Even Mr. Breckinridge was 
forced to acknowledge before the Investigating Commit- 
tee that "the Hoopers had nothing to do with it, let us 
admit that, and that disposes of all suspicions relating 
to the militia troubles." But that did not end his evi- 
dences of malignity toward me and at every opportunity 
he continued to bring in irrelevant matter which he 
thought would reflect on me. 

If the testimony of Governor Eagle and the state- 
ments of Mr. Breckinridge are carefully considered it at 
once becomes apparent that the only theories investigated 



192 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

by them were the long distance ones. If the time spent 
on the far-fetched CaHfornIa theory had been devoted 
to an investigation of the affairs directly under their noses 
that called for prompt and vigorous action and which they 
ignored, it probably would have resulted in the detection 
of the murderer. 

For instance, many people believed at the time and 
still believe that the murderer of John M. Clayton was 
a convict in the Zeb Ward convict coal mine, who was 
hired with money and the promise of liberty to commit 
the murder. Yet this very possible theory received no 
investigation from these two busy gentlemen. 

Every man in Arkansas who was living there when 
this murder was committed will remember the great pa- 
rade that was made by Mr. Breckinridge and his friends 
about the immense amount of money they had contributed 
to enable the Governor to increase his reward and to 
assist Mr. Breckinridge in bringing the murderer to jus- 
tice. These false reports were circulated through the 
newspapers and in every available way and went all over 
the country. The fact is that very few subscriptions were 
promised by them and the Governor's increased reward 
was unavailable because of the condition that the cr'nninal 
must be convicted before payment would be tnade. 

To show conclusively the falseness of their pretended 
liberality. Governor Eagle testified before the Investigat- 
ing Committee that he had no money he could use in trac- 
ing clues to the murder.^- To meet this condition Mr. 
Breckinridge supplied the Governor with the munificent 
sum of $ioo,^^ and the record shows that he promised 
the Governor all the money he needed, even to the 
extent of $10,000, which Mr. Breckinridge said he would 
raise by personal appeals from the stump. ^^ This, how- 
ever, proved to be only another evidence of ineffective 
officiousness and Democratic duplicity, and with the ex- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 193 

ception of $250 of other people's money the Governor 
received nothing from Mr. Breckinridge or his friends 
but the $100 I have mentioned. 

He attempts to show that more money was subscribed 
than was needed and cites a letter showing the return of 
certain moneys by me to the persons who had donated it. 
It is a fact that the money was returned, but it was re- 
ceived too late to be used beneficially, and Mr. Breckin- 
ridge and his friends had no part in the contribution. 

My brothers and I had become convinced of the 
futility of further effort, so we discharged our detectives 
and returned to our friends the unused moneys subscribed 
by them, and the matter was left in the hands of the 
Almighty. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER VII 

^ Published in Daily Republican, July 24, i86g» 
^ Published in Daily Republican, July 21, 1869. 
^ Republished by Arkansas Gazette, July 20, 1869. 

* Republished in Daily Republican, July 28, 1869. 

'^ Testimony of Charles Wahl, contested election case of Clay- 
ton vs. Breckinridge, pp. 344-345. 

® Contested election case of Clayton vs. Breckinridge, p. 582. 

'^ Testimony of Charles Wahl, contested election case of Clay- 
ton vs. Breckinridge, pp. 345-346. 

* Testimony of Charles Wahl, contested election case of Clay- 
ton vs. Breckinridge, p. 346. 

^ Testimony of Charles Wahl, contested election case of Clay- 
ton vs. Breckinridge, p. 347. 

^''Contested election case of Clayton vs. Breckinridge, p. 291. 

^^ Argument of C. R. Breckinridge, contested election case of 
Clayton vs. Breckinridge, p. 31. 

^^ Contested election case of Clayton vs. Breckinridge, p. 320 
— "I had no means in my hands that I felt authorized to use to 
hire men to go about and look after it and all I could do was 
simply to offer a reward." Pp. 559-560 — "I have found no- 
where where the contingent fund had been used as a detective 



194 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

fund. In the case when this clue was found in the upper part 
of the State, I had no money and I couldn't use the contingent 
fund. I had no means to send anyone." 

^^ Contested election case of Clayton vs. Breckinridge, p. 560 
— Governor Eagle: "I took that letter to Colonel Breckinridge 
and he gave me $100 to apply on that object." Contested elec- 
tion case of Clayton vs. Breckinridge, argument of Mr. Breckin- 
ridge, p. 13 — "I gave the Governor some money, I gave him $100 
and asked him to use it in following up this clue." 

^* Contested election case of Clayton vs. Breckinridge, argu- 
ment of Mr. Breckinridge, p. 15 — "I told the Governor of my 
expected absence and asked him to estimate what amount of money 
he would like to have before I left to meet any contingencies 
during the summer. I told him not to restrict himself, for I 
would take the stump before leaving and raise him in the Second 
District alone any sum he would say he needed, whether it be 
$1,000, $5,000, or $10,000." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS , 195 



CHAPTER VIII 

PEACE AND PROSPERITY PRODUCED BY MARTIAL LAW 

Martial law having been revoked, the question now 
naturally follows: What were its general effects, not 
only upon the counties subjected to it, but, with the ex- 
ceptions referred to, upon the entire State? 

On November 26, 1868, twenty-one days after mar- 
tial law had been declared, the following call was issued 
"To the Democracy of the State of Arkansas" for a 
mass-meeting or convention to be held in Little Rock on 
January 8, 1869, signed by Robert A. Howard, Chair- 
man of the State Democratic Committee, and twenty- 
nine other prominent Democrats :^ 

"The present state of political affairs in Arkansas 
being such as to suggest a fear of anarchy and blood- 
shed, and feeling assured that the Democracy of the 
State, constituting an overwhelming majority of her 
white citizens, desire peace and quiet and a fair, just, 
and economical administration of the state government, 
and admitting that a decent respect for the opinions of 
others, as well as justice to ourselves, suggests that we 
should give some public expression of our sentiments 
and an avowal of our purposes and desires in the pres- 
ent emergency, the undersigned invite a mass meeting 
of the Democracy of Arkansas at the city of Little Rock, 
on Friday, the 8th day of January, 1869." 

Evidently when this call was made it was expected 
that the assembling of the convention would be in the 



196 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

midst of great public turmoil, but the events that had 
intervened between the call and the date of the meeting 
were such as to convince the Democratic masses that such 
a convention was unnecessary; hence, for lack of dele- 
gates, no convention was held. The Gazette in refer- 
ence to this failure used the following language r^ 

"We note a few delegates In the city, but the repre- 
sentation Is by no means general. We are not apprised 
as yet what their action will be, but shall report it in full 
when the convention shall assemble." 

The convention never assembled, and this failure, I 
believe, clearly showed that the Democratic masses at 
that time were content with the results of the opera- 
tions of martial law and opposed to any further attempt 
to overthrow the state government by Ku Klux methods. 
That they were dissatisfied and tired of being "led around 
by the nose" by the party organ and its coterie of Ku 
Klux bosses is plainly indicated by the following extract 
from the Fort Smith Herald (Democratic), published in 
the Gazette, February 19, 1869: 

"Now, Mr. Editor, we Democrats have been badly 
sold, and that too by the laymen of our own party, and 
by the Gazette, that assumed the right to dictate to us 
In all things pertaining to politics. 

"In the first place our 'central committee' Issued a 
mandate through Its organ, the Gazette, forbidding us to 
vote ior the constitution, and the leaders of our party 
took up the note and told us of the degradation that 
would attach to every one who would take an oath to 
support the abominable Instrument." 

The martial law policy, after its revocation, soon de- 
veloped unprecedentedly prosperous conditions, a most 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 197 

striking contrast to those prophesied by the Gazette and 
the Ku Klux Democracy throughout the State. 

Every lawyer knows that in the trial of a case testi- 
mony favorable to his client, reluctantly drawn from the. 
witnesses on the other side, is more effective to his cause 
than if given by his own witnesses. On that principle I 
shall leave out the many articles from the "Republican 
press" relative to the prosperous conditions following 
martial law, and reproduce from some thirty articles I 
have selected from the Democratic press of the State the 
following extracts, commencing with the Gazette, its star 
witness : 

"May 22, 1869. Little Rock. It has been grow- 
ing like the trees we planted in our younger days, while 
we slept. The village has spread into a town, the town 
is expanding into a metropolis, and the real change, now 
that we see its magnitude, has taken many of us by sur- 
prise. . . . Northern capitalists have already been at- 
tracted here, and have invested largely in city property. 
They foresee the rapid increase of Little Rock and the 
large volume of trade which is to flow from the comple- 
tion of its vast railroad connections. They are taking 
time by the forelock and investing at low prices where 
they have a greater chance of making a surer profit, at 
less risk, than they have anywhere else." 

"July 31, 1869. The wages paid to negro laborers 
in. the cotton fields of Arkansas far exceed the wages 
ever before paid to labor anywhere, except in Califor- 
nia during the few years after the first discovery of gold. 
Labor to-day in the cotton fields of this State is more 
remunerative, realizes more to the laborers at the end 
of the year, than any prices now paid in California, 
or elsewhere. We are glad to be able to make the 
announcement. It is evidence of a prosperity introduced 
by the culture of a staple which must be used by the 
world, whatever the cost of Its culture. While Its cul- 



198 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ture pays high wages to the laborer, it is seen to be 
remunerative also to the employer. The inevitable result 
is a general prosperity hardly to be found elsewhere 
among industrial classes." 

"September 24, 1869. Our City — Her Prospects. 
. . . Nor indeed are these the only evidences of pros- 
perity. On every hand we witness a spirit of progres- 
sion seldom equalled by any locality. The erection of 
new business and dwelling houses, every direction, is so 
rapid and extensive that we fail to keep pace with them. 
The increase in the number of business houses is so 
great that, although perambulating the streets daily, we 
are unable to keep properly posted as to their number 
and business. It is unprecedented; and we, in common 
with the transportation lines, were equally surprised at 
the unusually large shipments of goods to this point. 
With all the facilities that were afforded, and they have 
heretofore been considered ample, it was found neces- 
sary to charter several extra packets, and even with that 
merchants naturally and justly complain at the delay in 
the delivery of their freights." 

"February 15, 1870. Around the City [Little Rock]. 
It would be too tedious to enumerate all the new houses 
that have recently gone up, or are in course of erection 
in and around the city. . . . An imposing edifice is the 
Blind Institute, which is nearly completed, and adds an- 
other lasting ornament to the city. From this point to 
the river via St. John's College we find new dwellings 
springing up as if by magic. The grading of Rector 
Avenue, which we believe is soon to be commenced, will 
be an addition to East End that will add much to the 
appearance of that portion of the city. On the corner 
of Orange Street and Rector Avenue we observe that 
Dr. J. M. Lewis, Commissioner of Immigration, is erect- 
ing a fine dwelling. As we near the river the beautiful 
edifice, Kramer School House, meets our view and com- 
pletes our rambles. 

"We have not mentioned the many dwellings and busi- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 199 

ness houses that are going up In the city. They are 
equally numerous. The new addition to Sherman Street 
schoolhouse has made that a handsome and commodious 
building, in keeping with the wants and necessities of a 
growing population. The evidences of improvement this 
year are even greater than they were last. 'Onward' Is 
the watchword. We have cause to congratulate ourselves 
upon the bright prospects we have before us." 

"July 12, 1870. Our City — Progress — Railroads. 
For nearly ten years our city [Little Rock] has been 
harassed by constant strife. When we remember all 
these things her progress Is most wonderful. Her popu- 
lation has Increased to about five times Its proportions 
In '60, her industries, manufactures, banking facilities, 
and commerce have kept pace with her population. She 
can boast of her steam saw and planing mills, employing 
over 300 hands — her foundries, brick machines, and 
scores of business houses." 

"December 15, 1870. Improvements. So rapidly 
does our city [Little Rock] expand and fill up with 
new houses and population that It Is almost Impossible 
to keep pace with the Improvements that are constantly 
in progress. There are no Idle mechanics In the city 
who desire work, and their pay is better than In any 
other Southern city. This of Itself should be a good 
lesson to young men who lounge around the street cor- 
ners too Indolent or too proud to learn a trade. A good 
mechanic, sober, industrious, and reliable, can always 
find work, particularly in a progressive town like this." 

"August 5, 1 87 1. Improvements. The Watchword 
Is Still Onward. We are undoubtedly safe In the asser- 
tion that no city In the South presents the same degree 
of activity, or gives the same evidence of thrift and 
progress as this [Little Rock]. Business houses are no 
sooner commenced than they are engaged, and no sooner 
finished than they are occupied. New houses are con- 
stantly opening, — new businesses started, — new peanut 
stands opened, and bootblacks on the increase. Our bus'- 



200 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ness has almost doubled the past year. Immigrants con- 
tinue to come and fill up our town; in fact, there is such 
a bustle and hurry and going to and fro as was never 
witnessed before during the summer months. Business 
has been good all the year, — at least, good in compari- 
son to other cities. Manufactories are on the increase — 
indeed everything is upward and onward." 

"March 4, 1869. [Extract from Clarksville Demo- 
crat.'\ The Clarksville Democrat says that in the Clarks- 
ville land district there have been, up to February 26, 500 
homestead locations, and that by the end of the current 
quarter the number will exceed 1,000. 

" 'We are now entering upon a career of prosperity 
that is destined to bring an immense immigration to this 
and adjacent counties. We notice that since last fall 
circuit court there has not been a single suit instituted 
in either the common low or chancery courts of Johnson 
County, to the term which meets third Monday of March, 
Lawyers talk of going to farming. The cotton crop of 
1868 for this county was about 2,250 bales; besides there 
was the greatest abundance of corn, wheat, and bacon 
for all necessary purposes. At the present time there 
is in the hands of the people of the county about $100,000, 
after having paid up last year's credits and bought sup- 
plies sufficient to make the next crop. Our merchants are 
all in good credit, prosperous and making money fast, 
but are apparently ignorant of the fact. Our farmers 
are hard at work preparing to make the coming crop, 
which it is estimated will exceed 3,500 bales of cotton, 
together with breadstuffs, bacon, etc. Last, but not least, 
there has not been a single crime committed in our county 
since last circuit court. Our people seem cheerful, and 
if let alone, are willing to bear the burdens of their 
taskmasters, — pay the heavy taxes, protect them- 
selves, keep the peace, and build up a prosperous com- 
munity.' " 

"May 27, 1869. [Extract from Clarksville Demo- 
t;rat.~\ The Clarksville Democrat notes that several sub- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 201 

stantial buildings are in course of construction in that 
pretty and prosperous little city." 

"October 6, 1869. [Extract from Helena Monitor 
(Democratic).] One of the most encouraging signs of 
the times is the increasing demand for lands. From our 
real estate agents we learn that inquiries are daily made 
on this subject, and that quite a number of transactions 
have taken place at prices which indicate a very active 
feeling and confidence in the future of our county. The 
demand is local as well as from abroad. The colored 
people are beginning to realize the beneficial results 
of their diligent labor, and many of them are seeking 
to invest their surplus moneys, providing homes for them- 
selves and their families." 

"November 18, 1869. [Extract from Eldorado 
Southern (Democratic).] The Eldorado Southern ad- 
vocates the organization of an agricultural society in 
Union County. There has been a marked change in the 
appearance and business of Eldorado within the last 
twelve months. This time last year we had but two dry- 
goods stores in operation, now we have four. One year 
ago there was little sign of improvement, and now we 
shall see signs of improvement all around. There have 
been two new business houses erected this year, and old 
ones are being repaired and remodeled. There is con- 
stant demand for lumber, and the sound of the hammer 
can be heard from sunrise to sunset, day after day. These 
are signs of returning prosperity." 

"December 9, 1869. [Extract from Hamburg T'me^ 
(Democratic).] The good order generally prevailing 
in Hamburg is becoming the pride of the citizens and 
the admiration of strangers. Public opinion is over- 
whelmingly in opposition to all disorder, and all that 
is necessary to execute the law to the letter and to make 
the town pleasant and agreeable is a continuation of just 
such an officer as we now have. 

"The labor and industry of no people on the face 
of the earth have been more richly rewarded than that 



202 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

of the people of our county during the present year. 
Crops of all kinds may not have been as abundant and 
as large a yield as before known, but they have been 
remunerative and the supply is sufficient for all practical 
purposes. Surely, then, there is much to encourage every 
good citizen to increased diligence in the cultivation of 
social relations, strict obedience to law, the enforcement 
of good order, and that untiring industry and rigid econ- 
omy that tends so much to make a nation of people indi- 
vidually and collectively good, wise, great, and inde- 
pendent." 

Having produced this evidence from the Democratic 
press, I shall now conclude with evidences from other 
sources. I quote as follows from the report to the Sec- 
retary of War from Gen. J. A. Mower, commanding the 
district of Arkansas, December 14, 1869:^ 

"Owing to the action of the Legislature In providing 
for an organization of militia, and the proclamation of 
the Governor declaring martial law in November, 1868, 
which was followed by putting the militia in the field, the 
civil authorities of the State have made themselves re- 
spected; and the laws can be executed without much diffi- 
culty. This end was reached mainly through the decided 
action of His Excellency, Governor Clayton, assisted by 
the United States troops when called upon. Comparative 
quiet has prevailed and the troops have had nothing save 
routine garrison duties to perform." 

United States District Judge, Henry C. Caldwell, 
who was present throughout all the disturbed conditions, 
was at first opposed to my martial law policy. His final 
conclusions will be clearly shown from the following 
correspondence. I quote from my letter to him, under 
date of January 8, 1913 : 



I 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 203 

"You will doubtless remember that after the con- 
clusion of the contest you wrote me a letter frankly 
stating that you had at first been opposed to my martial- 
law policy, but that its beneficent results in the estab- 
lishment of peace and order had caused you to change 
your views, upon which results you heartily congratu- 
lated me. I do not undertake to give the language of 
your letter but this was about its purport. Will you en- 
deavor to recall what you then wrote me and either con- 
firm my recollection as above stated, or state in your 
own language now the opinions you then expressed, au- 
thorizing me to use it in the publication, if I so desire." 

From his reply to this letter, under date of February 
20, 19 13, I quote as follows: 

"Your recollection is in exact accordance with the 
facts. I did write you a letter confirming my error 
and congratulating you and the people of the State upon 
the happy outcome of the policy you pursued. I will 
add that about the time I wrote you the letter referred 
to I had a conversation with Mr. Justice Miller of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, in which he com- 
mended your course in the highest terms, declaring you 
were the only Governor in the reconstruction states who 
had the courage and sagacity to pursue the right policy 
and enforce the laws and maintain the peace of the State 
against all lawless and illegal combinations by the vigor- 
ous exercise of the lawful powers of the State, instead of 
appealing to the President to send Federal troops into the 
State for that purpose (as other Southern Governors had 
done), which would have been a confession of weakness 
that would have encouraged, strengthened, and protracted 
the lawlessness, instead of putting an end to it" 

Mr. Justice Miller of the Supreme Court, to whom 
Judge Caldwell referred, then had circuit court powers 



204 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

which included Arkansas. He was in Arkansas during 
nearly all the time martial law was being executed, and 
was well informed as to the conditions preceding its dec- 
laration as well as to the conditions and results of its 
operations. 

From the official report of General Porter to General 
Grant, under date of December 26, 1868, I extract the 
following comments as to the opposition to martial law 
by General Smith of the United States Army, command- 
ing the troops there, and his change of views experienced 
later:* 

"The entire conservative wing of the Republican 
party was opposed to the declaration of martial law, 
including General Smith, United States Army, command- 
ing the troops .... It has, however, accomplished much 
more than the most sanguine expected, and General Smith 
acknowledges that the Governor's policy was better than 
his, and that the results would fully justify the action 
of the former. The Governor is now disposed to relieve 
each county from martial law as soon as it can be done. 
The Governor is certainly a man of intelligence and nerve 
and has labored under difficulties that would have de- 
terred a less able officer." 

There now also became apparent marked evidences 
of security to life. 

I suppose there was not then in the State a more 
unpopular man than I was among the Ku Klux masses; 
yet, having given ample notice of my intention to visit 
the localities that had been under martial law in the 
territory south of the Arkansas River, I filled these ap- 
pointments, commencing at Lewisville in the southwest 
corner of the State, and spoke in the various counties 
where martial law had been In existence, ending at Monti- 
cello; traversing all together a distance of 406 miles, with 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 205 

no one to accompany me except Gen. Keyes Danforth, 
who drove the buggy in which we rode. 

In each of the places where I spoke I emphasized this 
fact as an argument and illustration of my confidence in 
the peaceful disposition of the people now that they had 
been freed from Ku Klux terrorism. I assured them that 
martial law had not been proclaimed to punish individual 
Ku Klux, but only those who were making direct war 
against the State Government and those who had been 
charged with the commission of capital crimes, and that 
my object was to relieve the people from the terrorism 
of that organization, — a terrorism that was produced 
by desperadoes acting under its arbitrary dictates. Upon 
such assurances I indulged the hope that all good citizens 
would exert themselves to the utmost to sustain the local 
authorities. 

At each of these county seats I was assured by all 
classes of citizens of their determination to render to 
the county officials such aid and support. I believed then 
and I believe now that these assurances were generally 
given to me in good faith and were afterward so car- 
ried out. 

At Monticello occurred an incident that touched me 
very much, although it originated from a very humble 
source. It had rained the day previous to the speaking, 
and in going across the street to the speaker's stand I 
left a very clear imprint of one of my feet in the plastic 
mud. An old negro went into his cabin and procured a 
spade with which he marked a slab and then shovelled 
up a sufficient amount of the mud to leave my footprint 
undisturbed. This he afterward allowed to dry in the 
sun and kept in his cabin as a memento of my visit to 
Monticello. The negroes felt that by my efficient meas- 
ures I had given them a second freedom and secured them 
from intolerable outrages. 



2o6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

At all these appointments the people turned out 
almost en masse, and treated me with the utmost respect. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER VIII 

^ Published in Arkansas Gazette, November 26, 1868. 
^ Published in Arkansas Gazette, January 8, 1869. 
3 War Department Doc. No. 7-1467, S. A. G. O., 1869. 
* Memphis Evening Post, January 8, 1869. 



I 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 207 



CHAPTER IX 

IMMIGRATION 

Closely akin to the evidences of peace and prosperity 
which I have just described is the great influx of immi- 
gration which followed, and which was too pronounced 
and indicative of the prosperous conditions not to be 
brought to the especial attention of the reader. 

Both parties in Arkansas favored immigration, but 
were widely divergent as to the character of the immi- 
grants sought, and the rights and immunities of the 
newcomer as compared with the old citizen. To eluci- 
date the Democratic view, I will present a few extracts 
from the Gazette, as follows: 

"November i, 1866. . . . One of the most terrible 
results of the war is the destruction of the labor system 
of the South .... Our people are particularly attached 
to the plantation system, which has prevailed heretofore 
among us. The introduction of a foreign element as 
laborers will tend to destroy this ancient system . . . ," 

"January 19, 1867. . . . We want them [immigrants] 
to bring with them labor and capital, and not a stock 
of political morality to force down the throats of sup- 
posed barbarians. We desire the greatest amount of 
industrious energy, with the least possible amount of 
politics . . . ." 

"January 22, 1867. It is to be desired that the 
ownership of the soil of our State remain for the greater 
part in our ancient population and their descendants, as 



2o8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

the proprietors of the soil give the tone to the character 
of the people of a community." 

"October 4, 1867. . . . Those who have lately come 
to our State and have adopted it as their future homes, 
if they are the right material, will not be forward to 
secure pubhc offices . . . ." 

"January 19, 1870, — Chinese Immigration Move- 
ment, — The Republican, quoting the Gazette: 

". . . . We certainly do not feel disposed to combat 
the influences at work to encourage such a movement. 
But if the negroes of the South — who have, homeless, 
penniless, and naked, brought her out since the surrender 
to her present condition of prosperity — were their own 
friends, the friends of the country, and our friends, 
instead of lending themselves body and soul to those 
whose only object is to oppress and devour them and us, 
we should most strenuously oppose the introduction of 
Chinese laborers into this once pure and proud republic." 

Undoubtedly the underlying motive for this effort 
to bring in Chinese laborers was to punish the negro for 
having abandoned the control of his old master, and to 
regulate the conditions of his employment and the scale 
of wages to be paid him. 

On February 11, 1890, upon the invitation of the 
"Mystic Valley Club" of Boston, Mass., I delivered a 
speech on the "Southern Question," from which I quote 
as follows; 

"In Arkansas there is a county named Woodruff, 
where lately an immigration society was organized, the 
first act of which was the making of a 'black list' of 
Republicans, white and colored, who were to be boy- 
cotted and driven out, which resulted in a large emigra- 
tion, some perhaps returning to their former northern 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 209 

homes, thus swelling the northern-born citizens who have 
left the south, as referred to by Mr. Grady [in his Boston 
speech upon the same subject]. To fill the vacancies 
in the fields and elsewhere, caused by this exodus, this 
immigration society employed an agent, whose pros- 
pectus I hold in my hand, in which, after recounting 
the natural and other advantages of Woodruff County, 
he uses the following language : 

*' 'And be it to the honor and credit of this par- 
ticular neighborhood that its society is of the best and 
most intelligent in the State.' 

"Further on he said: 

" 'Don't arrange to carry anything but clothing, bed- 
ding, and dishes. The articles named want to be packed 
in boxes not to weigh more than 250 pounds, so that it 
can be checked as baggage. The county is under Demo- 
cratic rule, and we want only straight Democratic men, 
who wish to become citizens and better their condition.' 

"This circular is signed by R. A. Williams, General 
Agent, Atlanta, Georgia. It seems that the immigrants 
the best society desire are men whose earthly effects can 
be checked as baggage, and being Democrats, they need 
have no fear of being called carpet-baggers." 

In my message to the Legislature, dated July 4, 1868, 
I expressed my views upon the question of Immigration 
In the following language:^ 

"There Is probably no question that will affect the 
future destinies of Arkansas so much as that of Immi- 
gration. 

"Providence has richly endowed our State with those 
elements of wealth that are necessary to constitute an 
Independent and self-supporting community. Yet, in the 
midst of this great age of progress and Improvement, 
our primeval forests, as of yore, rear their arms to 
Heaven and seem to defy the hand of man. Millions of 
broad acres, teeming with fatness, and fertile beyond 



210 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

description, patiently await the 'open sesame' that shall 
unlock and develop their varied stores. Limitless wealth 
buried under broad hills, concealed in secluded valleys, 
and hidden in mountain caves, awaits the glad advent of 
the pick and bar. 

"Reflecting upon our great agricultural staple, we 
involuntarily pause to listen for the hum of machinery 
and the clank of the loom. 

"After a patient waiting of half a century, the light 
of a higher civilization has burst upon Arkansas. 

"The vast tide of immigration that, from across the 
waters, has been moving westward for so many years, 
peopling territories, building cities, and creating States 
with magical rapidity, only awaits our action to pour 
itself within the limits of our State. 

"We should invite all classes to come here and we 
should greet every one with a cordial welcome. Capital 
should be protected. Industry fostered, and over each in- 
dividual should be extended the strong and protecting arm 
of the law, — guaranteeing upon the soil of Arkansas 
equal rights to all men. 

"I confidently expect that at an early period you will 
establish a liberal and vigorous bureau of immigration; 
and I earnestly recommend that you so define the duties 
of the commissioner, and clothe him with such powers 
in relation to his intercourse with the most populous parts 
of this and foreign countries, as shall enable him to cope 
successfully with the agents of other States, and to direct 
the capital and labor of the North to this more genial 
climate; and by a thorough diffusion of facts and sta- 
tistics so to determine the line of immigration from 
Europe to this State as will make us the recipients of 
those elements of wealth and prosperity, from which, 
by the old order of things, we were effectually debarred." 

The fact that the Legislature took up and passed 
unanimously, on July i8, 1868, a bilP embodying my 
recommendations sufficiently show? that my views were 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 211 

not only a reflex of those of the Legislative Department, 
but of the Republican Party throughout the State. 

In my message of November 24, 1868, which was 
afterward published in pamphlet form and given a wide 
circulation at home and abroad, I again expressed my 
views upon this subject as follows :^ 

"It is of vital importance to the growth and develop- 
ment of our State that every encouragement be given 
to the introduction of settlers from abroad; and this can 
only be accomplished by securing entire protection and 
perfect freedom of thought and action to all who may 
desire to come among us. Our past record of murders 
and outrages, and absence of law and order, is, it is true, 
bringing us a very considerable immigration from Texas, 
Louisiana, and other places, and it will continue to do so 
as long as these evils exist; but it is an influx of desper- 
adoes and outlaws, who are seeking an asylum here on 
account of their crimes, to find a locality congenial 
to their manner of life, and adapted to the furtherance 
of their designs in the future. It depends upon us 
whether we shall make our State the hiding-place and 
home of the assassin from other States, as well as from 
our own. The settlement of the question depends upon 
the restoration, all over the State, of law and order. 

"Good citizens will not come here to seek homes for 
themselves and their families, where they are subject to 
all these perils, unless they surrender to others their 
manhood and freedom. They demand the right to think, 
speak, and vote in accordance with the dictates of their 
own judgment and wishes, 'none daring to molest them, 
or make them afraid.' 

"Possessing a soil unsurpassed for productiveness, a 
delightful climate, and an immense amount of cheap land, 
together with very valuable mineral resources, we offer 
to the overcrowded cities and communities elsewhere suf- 
ficient inducement to bring among us an immense tide of 
population. 



212 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"It needs only that the suicidal policy of the past be 
entirely laid aside; that all who desire to come be guar- 
anteed entire security and protection; that the spirit of 
lawlessness be overcome, and a spirit of acquiescence and 
obedience to the laws take its place, to bring into our 
State an amount of capital and a tide of population that 
will enable us to develop our resources and make rapid 
strides in the great march of progress and advancement. 

"When we are true to ourselves and to one another, 
and to the great destiny that Heaven has spread out 
before us, then indeed will our prosperity be great and 
our advances rapid. Then will the abundant resources 
of our State be in full process of development. Then 
will all conditions of society, like sound members of a 
healthy system, be united in one strong organic body. 
Towns and villages will spring up, capital will come 
among us, property will increase in value, our agricul- 
tural productions will be multiplied, and we ourselves, 
throwing aside every weight, be successful competitors 
in the great race of civilization and improvement. 

"In my convictions of right and duty, I trust I am, 
with you, firmly grounded in that truly republican faith 
that recognizes the claims of loyalty, liberty, and hu- 
manity. The nationality that is symbolized by one flag, 
one people, and one Government; the liberty that sinks 
alike all questions of race and creed; the humanity that 
protects the rights of the humblest in the land forms the 
basis of a creed that no temporary change of public 
opinion can ever shake. Planted upon that basis, our 
State will be truly reconstructed, and its upward and 
onward career will be assured alike by the wisdom of 
man and the favor of God." 

The issue being squarely joined, both parties went 
vigorously to work to establish their particular views. 
The opponents of the State Government plan confined 
their efforts principally to the bringing into the State of 
Chinese immigrants, in fact Chinese laborers. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 213 

A Chinese Immigration Convention assembled at 
Memphis, Tenn., on July 13, 1869, with a large repre- 
sentation, principally planters from Tennessee and Ar- 
kansas, at which Convention ways and means were pro- 
vided for the success of their purposes. Conventions 
were also held in Arkansas, and the efforts of the planters 
were especially exerted for the substitution of Chinese 
immigrants, as they were called, for negro labor. 

I give the following extract as to the Memphis Con- 
vention :* 

"July 13, 1869. Memphis, July 12. Hotels are 
rapidly filling up with delegates to the Chinese Labor 
Convention to-morrow. Koopmanshop, the importer, 
telegraphs that he will be here to-morrow. Planters from 
various parts of the southwest are here in strong force." 

These efforts resulted in introducing into the State, 
especially in the cotton planting region, a considerable 
number of Chinese, brought, In most cases, in groups by 
agents. I insert copies of all the documentary evidence 
I have that bears upon this aspect of the case, from the 
Gazette, as follows : 

"June 8, 1870. The Pine Biuf Press [Democratic] 
of the 2d instant contains an interesting report from 
Capt. George Gift, agent of the Arkansas Valley Immi- 
gration Company, who has recently returned from the 
Celestial Empire with a cargo of Chinamen for that 
company .... The Chinese will soon be here, and Captain 
Gift says It remains for the planters to dissipate the ideas 
of ill treatment that prevail in China, — prove to them 
that they can earn wages, receive reasonable treatment, 
— and they will flock to us by the thousands. It required 
several years to start them toward California. Twenty- 
five thousand go there now annually at their own cost." 



214 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"August 13, 1870. A Chinaman has the same right 
to be born in the world as any other child of Adam. 
Having a right to live, he has a right to earn his live- 
lihood wherever he can best find work and wages. Know- 
ing that of all countries on earth America offers the great- 
est advantages to working men, he has a right to come 
hither and take his chances with the rest. Being here, he 
has the right to be treated with the same justice and 
generosity as we show to other men. And that is the 
sum and substance of the Chinese question." 

The efforts to utilize Chinese labor proved a dis- 
astrous failure. Planters soon learned that after all 
the negroes, as laborers in the cotton fields, were better 
in all respects than the men of any other race, and in a 
little while the Chinamen sagaciously learned the pur- 
poses for which they were introduced. I do not know 
of a single plantation that is now worked in whole or in 
part by Chinese labor. 

On the other hand, the following extracts from the 
Gazette, copied from various newspapers in the State, 
conclusively show the success of the plan of the Adminis- 
tration: 

From the Gazette, August 3, 1869: "Benton County 
received last week an accession to its population of some 
three or four hundred German immigrants. This thrifty 
class of people is beginning to rush into the State at all 
points, hundreds having already settled, and more con- 
stantly coming into the counties east of us and border- 
ing on the Missouri line." 

From the Gazette, October 27, 1869: "There are a 
great many immigrants passing through our town bound 
for this State and Texas. As a class they are very 
intelligent, hardy-looking people, have good teams, and 
will contribute to the development of the country in 
which they may settle. We are glad to learn that some 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 215 

are stopping in Washington County, the garden spot of 
Arkansas." 

From the Gazette, quoting from the Pine Bluf Re- 
publican, November 18, 1869: "Immigrants by hun- 
dreds are daily passing through Pine Bluff. From pres- 
ent appearances Arkansas will receive no less than an 
addition of 10,000 souls to her population this winter 
and the coming spring. The people in the old states are 
beginning to find out the vast advantages offered by our 
State, and are flocking to us by the hundred." 

From the DeValls Bluf Journal, December i, 1869 :^ 
"More than one hundred families of immigrants have 
settled in this County (Prairie) within the last month. 
Every house in town is crowded, and still they come. 
We have room for more." 

From the Gazette, December 19, 1869: "A friend 
writing from Clarksville, under date of the 13th instant, 
says : 'You would be astonished to see the immense 
immigration pouring into the Arkansas Valley, and they 
all seem to be of the right sort, — the hardy sons of 
toil, who come to work and make a living and build up 
the fortunes of the State. The speech of Governor 
Clayton [my message to the legislature of November 
24, 1868] has done more to give encouragement to 
immigration, and to assure protection to settlers and en- 
courage their coming among us, than all the immigra- 
tion agents he could appoint. Before that speech people 
were not disposed to risk their all, life, liberty, and prop- 
erty, in a state governed by a mass of ignorant, unprin- 
cipled, and savage militia.' " 

From the Gazette, December 21, 1869, — extract from 
the Republican: "Almost every boat that comes into 
the Arkansas River is crowded with people seeking 
homes in this State. This is really cheering and propi- 
tious for the future prosperity of Arkansas, and it is 
not very difficult to see what the future has in store for 
her." 

From the Gazette, December 25, 1869: "A large 



2i6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

immigration is taking place to Montgomery, and as a 
consequence, Mount Ida, Harold, and Centreville are all 
receiving increased prosperity." 

From the Gazette, December 25, 1869: "A corre- 
spondent from Danville, under date of December 20: 
'Immigration is pouring into our county [Yell] rapidly. 
Georgia seems all at once to have emptied all her surplus 
population into this part of Arkansas, and the result is we 
are about overrun with immigrants. Every hut and cabin 
in the whole county is full to overflowing. There are 
numbers of families who cannot find homes, and the cry 
is 'still they come.' " 

From the Gazette, December 28, 1869 — extract from 
the Times: "Arrangements are being completed for the 
consummation of the land purchase at Spadra. It is 
promised that over 400 German famihes will settle there 
in the spring." 

From the Gazette, December 28, 1869: "The in- 
crease of population in Arkansas is becoming immense. 
The steamers, seven, making almost daily trips to Mem- 
phis, belonging to the Memphis and Arkansas River 
Packet Company, are thronged during every trip, be- 
sides the influx by the other capacious and numerous boats 
plying in the White and Arkansas Rivers. The Cald- 
well's receipts last trip from Memphis from passenger 
fare alone were three thousand dollars. While we most 
cheerfully welcome immigrants to our State from any 
of the States in the Union, 'without regard to color, race, 
or previous condition,' it is pleasant to know that the 
majority of these now coming to make homes in Arkansas 
are southerners, frugal and industrious citizens from the 
Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Much is 
conceded to the enterprise of the people of states farther 
north; but for true economy and the substantial develop- 
ments of the material interests of any agricultural coun- 
try, there is no better citizen in the world. We do not 
say that western farmers from farther north are not as 
good as they are, but we feel safe in saying they are 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 217 

no better. Our prospects are brightening, materially, 
socially and politically." 

The immigrants referred to in this article, although 
from the Southern States, came principally from the 
mountain regions and were mostly farmers seeking cheap 
lands as a wise precaution for the rapid increase of their 
families. Nearly all were Republicans, and not of the 
old slaveholding regime. 

From the Gazette, January 4, 1870: "It is gratify- 
ing to witness the great influx of strangers to this county 
[Independence], many of whom are purchasing land and 
locating. During the past two months more strangers 
have located here than at any time embracing the same 
period in the history of the county." 

From the Gazette, January 12, 1870: "The Clarion 
[independent paper], in an article upon the immense 
immigration which has spread over our State during the 
past autumn, and which still continues, concludes its 
article as follows: 

" 'One great thing with persons seeking new homes 
is as to the quiet of the State and the security of person 
and property. In all respects we think Arkansas will 
compare with any other State in the Union. We still 
have a few wild, reckless men among us, but they are 
rapidly dying off. Their very recklessness and dissipa- 
tion are killing them, and we think we risk but very little 
when we say that Arkansas is as free of that class of 
men as any State in the United States.' " 

From the Gazette, January 19, 1870, — extract from 
the Augusta Sentinel [Democratic] : "Dr. H. K. Steven, 
who for several months past has been in Tennessee, en- 
gaged in promoting immigration and assisting in bring- 
ing settlers to our county [Woodruff], returned Monday 
last bringing about 150 immigrants with him, who are 
finding homes upon the rich unoccupied lands of our 
county. The doctor has been engaged in a good work, 



2i8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

and we are glad to note this evidence of his success. We 
are credibly informed that not less than three hundred 
persons have settled in our county during the present fall 
and winter, and more are coming. Lands are steadily 
increasing, and those who would avail themselves of the 
present low prices must purchase soon, as the present year 
will witness an influx of settlers unprecedented in the 
former history of our State." 

From the Gazette, January 27, 1870: "As will have 
been observed from the many extracts we have published 
from our State papers, from time to time, an immense 
immigration has been settling into our State, which still 
continues." 

From the Gazette, May 14, 1870: "The Coming 
Splendor of Our Prosperity — We have often adverted to 
the rapidity with which the population and wealth of 
this State were augmented. In fact its growth in every 
element of greatness is infinitely more rapid than is 
apparent to any casual observer of the course of events. 
Through the past fall and winter and spring, vast num- 
bers of immigrants from the older States have sought 
homes along our rivers, and many more are attracted 
hither by the mere fact that Arkansas is deemed the most 
prosperous of southern States." 

Believing that I can safely rely upon the intelligence 
of my reader to differentiate between the two policies 
I have outlined, I will content myself with some gen- 
eral remarks. The anti-reconstructionists had one prin- 
cipal object in view — the re-possession of the State Gov- 
ernment and all its privileges and emoluments. There- 
fore, they looked with disfavor on any plan that would 
bring to the State an influx of Northern and foreign immi- 
gration. The condition throughout the South being simi- 
lar to their own, they could not expect any considerable 
immigration from that quarter; hence, what they called 
their immigration policy was in reality but a labor ques- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 219 

tion, whereby, regardless of the consequences, they advo- 
cated a policy that would not only add to the perplexities 
of the race question, but also to the incongruity of the 
citizenship of the State generally, and would continue the 
old policy of neglecting all other interests save that of 
agriculture. 

On the other hand, the immigration policy of the 
State Government was that which filled up and rapidly 
brought to conditions of statehood the unoccupied regions 
of our mountain States, where every immigrant was wel- 
comed on terms of equality. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER IX 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1868, pp. 293-294. 

^Arkansas Laws, 1868, pp. 124-126. 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1868-69, pp. 26-28. 

* Published in Daily Gazette, July 13, 1869. 

° Republished in Daily Gazette, December 7, 1869. 



220 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER X 

EDUCATION 

Having described the closing of the Ku Klux Dens, a 
description of how the schoolhouse doors were opened 
becomes now a more pleasing subject. The opening of 
these doors was the task that lay nearer my heart than any 
other of my official duties. 

The United States Census of i860 shows that the 
entire number of slaveholders in the State at that time 
was 11,481, or about 3^ per cent of the white popu- 
lation. As incredible as it may appear, this small per- 
centage of citizens dominated the politics of the- State 
throughout its whole history. This evidently grew out 
of the following facts : 

The slaveholders were the possessors of the wealth, 
educational facilities, and the governmental machinery. 
A community of interests in their slaveholding assets 
created a bond of union that made organization unneces- 
sary. This policy was readily supported by the classes 
dependent upon the slaveholders, such as overseers, doc- 
tors, lawyers, merchants, and others. 

On the other hand, the non-slaveholders, constituting 
the great mass of the white population of the State, were 
without educational facilities. Scattered at considerable 
intervals and being without money, organization, or lead- 
ership, they were confronted by irresistibly repressive in- 
fluences and they chose rather to "bow their heads to 
the yoke" than to engage in a strife that would have 
been absolutely futile. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 221 

To prevent any bond of sympathy between the slaves 
and the illiterate non-slaveholding classes, the former 
were taught to look down upon the latter with contempt 
and to characterize them as "poor white trash." This in 
turn caused this class of whites to become negro haters. 

Upon the admission of the State into the Union, and 
at various other times, the General Government had been 
most liberal in its donations in aid of free schools. The 
following description of these donations is based upon the 
report of Woodville E. Thompson, State Superintendent 
of Schools, dated October, 1890: 

By act of Congress, March 2, 1827, seventy-two sec- 
tions of land were donated for the establishment of a 
Seminary of Learning. The provisions of the act of 
Congress, June 23, 1836, resulted in confirming to the 
General Assembly of the State of Arkansas the title to 
the 1 6th section of every township, and the seventy-two 
sections of land known as the "Seminary Land" above 
referred to. 

July 29, 1846, Congress assented to the adding to 
the 1 6th section lands the Seminary Lands for the pur- 
pose of establishing a system of free schools. The rev- 
enues derived from such donations were squandered by 
ignorant county superintendents and other local officials. 

To show the utter failure of the old political regime 
to establish free schools in the State after its admission 
to the Union, I quote as follows from the message of 
Gov. Henry M. Rector to the General Assembly, No- 
vember 15, 1860:^ 

". . . . The common school system also seems to be 
radically defective. In the last report made by the Sec- 
rectary of State, as State Commissioner of common 
schools, it may be seen that there are only twenty-five 
common schools organized and kept up in the whole 



222 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

State, from the common school fund. This Is a sad 
commentary upon the present system. 

"Under existing laws, it is made the duty of the 
common school commissioners of the different counties 
(fifty-five in number) to make out and transmit to the 
Secretary of State, annually, a report showing the con- 
dition of the common schools and school funds in their 
counties, respectively. It is lamentably true, however, 
that out of this number only three of them have reported 
at all for the present year; two of which reports are 
totally devoid of the required information. 

"The general law provides for three trustees and 
one treasurer in each congressional township. Each 
county, containing thirty-five townships, would have, in- 
cluding the commission, one hundred and forty-one offi- 
cers. Multiply this by the number of counties and you 
have in the State seven thousand seven hundred and fifty- 
five men to perform what ten would do better." 

It was these last remarks of Governor Rector's that 
suggested to me the Circuit Superintendent system, which 
placed the work throughout the State in the hands of 
competent officers who were qualified to put it in prac- 
tical operation, instruct minor officers in their duty, and 
inculcate in the minds of parents and guardians the great 
advantages that would accrue to their children by placing 
within their reach the means of acquiring a good free 
school education. 

The Census Report of i860, under the head of what 
It termed "Public Schools," is misleading. While there 
may have been seven hundred and thirty-two schools, they 
were not free schools but were common schools, which 
under the law then existing were maintained by sub- 
scription, aided by a distribution, or misappropriation, of 
the free school funds. 

The hostility of the slaveholders, and the indifference 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 223 

of the other classes, to any system of free schools. Super- 
intendent Thompson, heretofore referred to, described 
in the following language '? 

". . . . The free schools were looked upon by our 
citizens generally as pauper establishments, not to be 
patronized by the better class; and the prejudice per- 
meated all grades of society." 

From i860 until the close of the Civil War schools 
of all descriptions ceased to exist in the Confederate 
States, and among the many evils brought on by that 
war perhaps not the least baneful was the increased 
ignorance and its attendant pernicious influences. After 
the Democrats got control of the "Murphy Government" 
in 1866, an effort was made to reestablish the old system 
of common schools, in which no provision was made for 
the education of the lately enfranchised negro. 

Having resolved to recommend to the Legislature 
the adoption of an entirely new system of free schools, 
open to all, and upon a complete reformation of the old 
system so graphically described by Governor Rector, 
after much deliberation I brought the matter to the atten- 
tion of the Legislature in my message of July 4, 1868, 
as set forth in the following extract:^ 

"Your attention is respectfully invited to a question 
that is perhaps more important than any you have been 
called upon to consider. It is that of universal education. 

"To the ears of the oppressors this is a startling and 
dangerous subject, for wherever the ennobling influence 
of education is felt the shackles fall from the limbs of 
the oppressed; the slave becomes a freeman. To the 
lover of freedom it is the very 'philosopher's stone' that 
changes the base metal of the ignorant and slavish mind 
to the pure ore upon which the light of liberty is caught 
up and reflected upon other minds until the whole becomes 
illumined. To us it is the keystone of the grand arch 



2 24 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

upon which rests the fair structure of our free govern- 
ment. No State founded upon the principles on which 
our government is based can prosper where ignorance 
prevails. The people cannot rule successfully unless they 
are educated and informed. 

"Free schools and free labor are necessary adjuncts; 
they go hand in hand. The one produces from the gar- 
den of the mind its choicest fruits, the other causes 'the 
wilderness to blossom as the rose.' 

"The wicked and shameful manner in which the ser- 
vants of the people have neglected their educational inter- 
ests and appropriated to their own selfish uses and the un- 
hallowed purposes of treason the magnificent endow- 
ments of a generous government subjects them to the 
merited condemnation of all true patriots. In regard to 
the advancement of the common school interests, the 
question heretofore seems to have been, not how to do 
it, but how not to do it. 

"A comparison of the condition of common schools in 
this State, as shown by Governor Rector's message de- 
livered to the General Assembly, November 15, i860, — 
heretofore quoted, — with that of the State of Michigan, 
which became a member of the Federal Union at the 
same time as Arkansas and under circumstances less 
favorable, is calculated to create a sickening sensation 
in the breast of one having the interests of education 
at heart. 

"In 1855 Michigan maintained 3,255 common schools 
and employed 5,078 teachers. In i860, as shown by the 
message above referred to, but twenty-five common 
schools were organized and kept up in this State from 
the common school fund. I am unable to give you cor- 
rect information of the number of common schools now 
in operation, but for practical purposes it would be safe 
to proceed as if there were none. 

"From reliable statistics obtained from the list of 
registered voters, made last fall, it is shown that thirty 
per cent, of the white and fifty per cent, of the entire 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 225 

voting population were unable to write their own names. 
Nothing but a due sense of my constitutional obligations, 
and an earnest desire to promote the educational inter- 
ests of the State, induces me to make this shameful 
disclosure. 

"Fortunately, after thirty-two years of ignorance and 
misrule, a way is at last opened through which the light 
of intelligence can enter and shed its beneficent rays over 
the whole State. The framers of our present Constitu- 
tion have placed themselves in enviable comparison with 
past legislators, and merited the approbation and grati- 
tude of posterity by that one act of far-seeing statesman- 
ship, which secures to future generations the inestimable 
boon of education and gives life and perpetuity to the 
State by providing the means whereby its future sup- 
porters and defenders may be prepared for the proper 
exercise of the duties of American citizenship. 

"You are expected to take up this work, which has 
been so well begun, and at an early day devise and estab- 
lish a wise system of common [free] schools; one that 
will not be out of proportion with our limited means, but 
will be so adjusted as to grow with our growth and 
strengthen with our strength. After a system is estab- 
lished, the work of execution should be put into the hands 
of competent men, depending more upon efficiency than 
numbers. The work that under the present system is 
entrusted to nearly sixty-five officers, could, in my opin- 
ion, be more efficiently performed by ten. I, therefore, 
respectfully suggest the propriety of abolishing the office 
of county school commissioners, and creating in lieu 
thereof district superintendents for each judicial district 
that is now, or that may hereafter be, established. 

"These district superintendents should be charged 
with the work of organizing school districts, and estab- 
lishing schools; they should have immediate supervision 
over the school directors of the various school districts, 
and see that said directors perform their duties properly 
and according to law; they should examine and license 



226 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

teachers, and organize teachers' institutes; they should 
provide rules and regulations for the government of 
schools, and visit the schools frequently for the purpose 
of ascertaining the efficiency of the teachers; they should 
examine the titles of all school lands that have hereto- 
fore been disposed of, and report to the proper officers 
such, if any, as are illegally held and their condition. 

"In short they should have full supervision of all 
matters pertaining to the school interests in their respec- 
tive districts. In addition to these duties, the district 
superintendents, with the State superintendent, as presid- 
ing officer, should constitute a board of education, which 
should meet at the Capital yearly, and have conferred 
upon It such legislative powers as may enable said board 
to make such amendments in the school system as the 
application of theory to practice, or the exigencies of 
the educational Interests, may demand. 

"The present condition of our school interests is 
unprecedented. A large portion of the community Is 
known to be antagonistic to the principles of universal 
education. The prejudices that exist against a certain 
class of the people will tend to embarrass the situation. 
Obstacles will doubtless be thrown in the way where 
active support should be given. 

"The establishment of the school systems of the older 
States has been the work of years. We cannot expect to 
apply successfully the elaborate plans that they have 
slowly perfected and adjusted to suit their enlarged views 
and peculiar localities and conditions at once to our State. 
Before we can arrive at such a degree of perfection the 
people must be educated as well as the rising generation. 

"Any system that we may agree upon will, doubtless, 
require frequent adjustments before it will be found to 
work well in practice. It is for this reason that I recom- 
mend the establishment of a board of education." 

My recommendations were embodied in an act of the 
Legislature passed unanimously by the Senate on July 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 227 

16, 1868, and by the House, July 18, 1868, by a vote 
of 37 to 19. The negative vote in the House did not 
indicate opposition to the bill as a whole, but only to 
that part of it that provided for separate schools for 
the races. To have provided for mixed schools, under 
the existing conditions, would have been destructive of 
all we were laboring to accomplish. In making my rec- 
ommendations to the Legislature I had to provide for 
conditions as they were and get the best results I could 
out of the new system, which provided for absolute segre- 
gation of the races. 

From my message to the Legislature, January 2, 
1 87 1, relating to the progress of the educational work, I 
quote as follows:* 

". . . . The report of Hon. Thomas Smith, Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, however, furnishes sta- 
tistics showing so much more accomplished than many 
of you are aware of, and, moreover, contains so much 
matter of general interest, that I subjoin some state- 
ments from it, referring you for full particulars to his 
able report:^ 

"Number of children of school age, 1869 176,910 

Number of children of school age, 1870 180,274 



Increase 3>364 

"Number of children attending school in 1869. . 67,412 

Number of children attending school in 1870. . 107,908 

Increase 40,496 

"Number of teachers employed in 1869 Ij335 

Number of teachers employed in 1870 2,302 

Increase 967 



228 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"Number of Teachers' Institutes held in 1869. . 12 

Number of Teachers' Institutes held in 1870. . 41 



Increase 29 

"Amount paid to teachers in 1869 $188,397 

Amount paid to teachers in 1870 $405,748 



Increase $217,351 

"Number of schoolhouses built prior to 1869. . 632 

Number of schoolhouses built 1869 and 1870 657 



Total 1,289 

"Number of persons subject to per capita 

tax, 1868 71,891 

Number of persons subject to per capita 

tax, 1869 79'454 

Increase 7,563 

"Amount of tax collected from this source 

in 1868 $52,090 

Amount of tax collected from this source 

in 1869 $61,465 

Increase $9,365 

"Apportionment of school tax in 1868. . . . $190,492.86 

Apportionment of school tax in 1869. . . . $187,427.08 

District tax in 1868 $105,235.00 

District tax in 1869 $320,583.79 

Increase $212,283.01 

"So encouraging a statement of the work accom- 
plished in this direction cannot but be a source of con- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 229 

gratulatlon. It is impossible to estimate too highly the 
importance of good and abundant public schools in any 
community. To educate the people is one of the highest 
duties. 

"Every effort made for the accomplishment of this 
object should be encouraged. Every interest and every 
industrial pursuit will be aided and promoted by its oper- 
ations. Every man who is educated is improved in use- 
fulness, and is in every respect more valuable to society. 
That this subject is being properly agitated is evident 
from the rapid advance made in the past two years, and 
we may now confidently anticipate that in a short time 
the means of obtaining for their children a good free 
school education will be within the reach of every family 
in the State." 

In stating the total number of schoolhouses built prior 
to 1869, Supt. Thomas Smith, in his foregoing report, 
should have enumerated the schoolhouses built out of the 
Common School Fund, the Peabody Educational Fund, 
and the Freedmen's Bureau Fund. 

By the Common School Fund I mean the fund raised 
from all sources to support the common schools, which 
were not free schools. The Peabody Educational Fund 
and the Freedmen's Bureau Fund were, at the time of the 
winding up of those institutions, turned over to the Ar- 
kansas Common School Fund and became a part thereof. 
Doubtless all the schools established, of every descrip- 
tion, were included in those given in the Census report of 
1860.8 

The Gazette, true to the Democratic policy, under the 
pretext that the salaries of the circuit superintendents 
were exorbitant, persistently attacked the whole school 
system. The facts were that it was becoming too popu- 
lar with the illiterate Democracy of the State and it had 
to be checked. 



230 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

The salary which the Circuit Superintendents received 
was $3,000 a year. At first thought that may seem ex- 
cessive to some of my readers, but when it is known that 
all the expenses incurred in the performance of their 
duties — covering a territory of from five to seven coun- 
ties each, with but forty-five miles of railroad in the entire 
State — were paid from that amount it will be evident that 
the execution of their duties entailed extraordinary ex- 
penses. 

It is to be regretted that the School Law, providing 
for the Circuit Superintendent System, did not fix a spe- 
cific amount for the salaries of the superintendents, and 
provide by separate appropriations for all expenses in- 
curred in the administration of the law, thus removing 
the unjust criticism of the entire system, — a criticism that 
was persisted in so strenuously by its enemies. 

I watched closely the official work of each superin- 
tendent, and when I found a lack of zeal and efficiency 
the official ax immediately fell upon the neck of the slug- 
gard. Two examples proved sufficient, and thereafter 
the whole body worked effectively and harmoniously, en- 
titling them to the highest meed of praise. 

Twenty-two years after the establishment of the new 
system Superintendent Thompson, in his aforesaid re- 
port, used the following language :''^ 

"When Superintendent Smith took charge of the 
oflfice in 1868 the unsettled and disturbed condition of 
society during an excited political canvass operated 
greatly against the advancement of free schools, but from 
the date of his administration we may also date the be- 
ginning of popular education in Arkansas — schools free 
to all, and every child entitled to the same rights and 
privileges; none excluded; separate schools provided for 
the white and the black; many schools organized, houses 
built, and efforts made to employ more efficient teachers." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 231 

This noble recognition from an officer of opposite 
political views could not, in my opinion, be improved, 
except by fixing the date of the passage of the act as 
the "beginning of popular education in Arkansas." 

Superintendent Smith was opposed to the system, but 
not on account of excessive salaries, and he was really 
entitled to no special credit for its success. If the law 
had given him the appointment and full control of the 
circuit superintendents, the matter would doubtless have 
appeared to him in a very different light. 

Up to the time I vacated the Executive Chair in 
March, 1871, the work had been a complete success, but 
from that time onward the annual enrollment of school 
children fluctuated very considerably, with a pronounced 
downward tendency. The wonderful success of the sys- 
tem, as shown by the enrollment of 107,908 pupils dur- 
ing the year 1870, caused the Democratic party at once 
to make unrelenting war upon it, and, as a party measure, 
induced many of the Democratic parents and guardians, 
in their blindness, to withdraw the children under their 
control from the free schools. 

Then came almost a death blow to the whole sys- 
tem — the enactment of the law by which the Auditor 
was required to issue warrants against the Treasurer 
for all audited accounts against the State. ^ These war- 
rants were called State Scrip, and resulted in the organi- 
zation of a "scrip ring" of speculators, who bought up 
scrip at low prices, according to the necessities of the 
impecunious holders of the scrip, including circuit super- 
intendents with moderate means and large families de- 
pendent upon them, teachers, and school district trustees. 
Employees whose necessities compelled them to turn their 
monthly payments into cash had to go to the local county 
ring, which offered them the alternative of buying the scrip 
at its own price, sometimes as low as 40 per cent on the 



232 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

dollar, or to look elsewhere. Of course if the owners 
of the scrip could have waited until the time came for 
the collectors of taxes to make their settlements with the 
State, when this scrip was redeemable at par value, they 
could then have gotten full value for their warrants. 

This act caused the most efficient school employees 
to seek employment elsewhere, and lowered the standard 
of the teachers and the local trustees. It also affected 
the efficiency of the circuit superintendents and compelled 
several of them to bow their heads to the scrip ring, 
or to look for other employment. In such cases a re- 
moval from office for inefficiency carried with it no reme- 
dial effects. 

Under the Democratic administration the schools 
were closed during the years 1874 and 1875, and the 
attendance in 1876 was only 8 per cent of the school 
population,^ but from that time onward it gradually in- 
creased from year to year until in 1890 it had reached 
about 50 per cent of the school population, which shows 
that the hunger among the masses for education — a 
hunger that was so clearly manifested during the first 
scholastic year of my administration in 1869-70 — in spite 
of all adverse conditions and plundering of the school 
funds under the Democratic regime, had not abated. 
The year 1870 remained the high-water mark in school 
attendance for a period of at least twenty years. 

I trust that this hunger that I have spoken of will 
so grow in intensity as to compel the Democratic govern- 
ment, as now administered, to change its whole policy 
of antagonism to the education of the ignorant masses. 
A party founded upon the ignorance of its supporters 
may prevail through the corruption of the ballot-box, but 
it never can, in my judgment, under free and fair elec- 
tions where both parties have proper representation on 
the election boards, — a representation that has been ab- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 233 

solutely denied the Republican party in Arkansas by the 
Democrats since their advent to power in 1874 down to 
the present time, a period of forty years. 



ARKANSAS INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY 

Kindred to this question was the establishment of the 
Arkansas Industrial University, which owes its origin 
to the act of the Legislature, approved March 27, 1871.^^ 
The passage of this act was soon followed by the appoint- 
ment of the Board of Trustees provided for by it, and 
the city of Fayetteville, having subscribed the necessary 
lands for the site and $100,000 in bonds, was selected 
for the location of the University. 

For the information of the reader as to the grant 
of land made by the general government for this pur- 
pose, and the date of the formal opening of the insti- 
tution, and the preliminary measures resulting in the re- 
ceipt of the land scrip, I extract the following statements 
from an address ^^ made by Gen. A. W. Bishop, June 
22, 1872, at the formal opening of the University — 
which, I believe, are correct: 

"By an act of Congress approved July 23, 1866, the 
time within which a State might take and claim the bene- 
fits of the act of July 2, 1862, was extended five years, 
and the formal assent to it and acceptance of its provi- 
sions by the State of Arkansas was made on the 31st of 
January, 1867. 

"On the 1 2th of February in that year a certified 
copy of the act of acceptance by the State was filed in 
the office of the commissioner of public lands, a fact that 
fixed the date from which the five years began to run, 
before which expiration at least one college must have 
been established. On the 8th of February, when thirty 
were in attendance, the executive committee of the Board 



234 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

of Trustees telegraphed to the Secretary of the Interior 
that it had been formally opened. Its right to the con- 
gressional donation was now completely and properly 
asserted, but upon attempting to obtain it we were met 
with this objection from the Secretary; that we could 
not have it until the State of Arkansas should pay an 
indebtedness due from it to the trust fund of the Chicka- 
saw Indians, amounting now, principal and interest, to" 
at least $250,000, and as security for the payment of 
which the government held bonds of the old State Bank. 

"Shortly after Arkansas was admitted into the Union, 
it borrowed from this fund a large sum of money. On 
the first day of January, 1842, the amount of unpaid 
principal was $90,000. Up to that date the interest 
had been met, but since then nothing has been paid, 
either of principal or interest, and the sum that I have 
mentioned is now due. The Secretary informed us, how- 
ever, that if Congress would authorize him to receive 
the new funded bonds of the State for the bonds held 
by him, funding principal and interest, he would deliver 
the old bonds and issue college scrip. 

"To that end a bill was introduced in the Senate in 
January last, and in March another bill in the House 
of Representatives, that contemplated the issuance of 
the scrip without any reference to the payment of this 
debt due from the State. 

"The House bill, introduced by the Hon. James M. 
Hanks, of Helena, passed that body near the close of 
the session, and taken to the Senate was there the sub- 
ject of an animated discussion that resulted in an amend- 
ment to the effect that this scrip should not be delivered 
to the authorities of the State of Arkansas until the State 
should have made some satisfactory arrangement by 
which the bonds of the State, principal and interest, now 
held by the United States as Indian trust funds, should 
be funded in the new bonds of the State, authorized to 
be issued for this purpose. This, as was announced on 
the floor of the Senate by Senator Clayton, the State is 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 235 

ready to do, and to use his language, 'The very moment 
the Secretary of the Interior comes forward and pro- 
poses to have these funded the State authorities will 
do it' 

"With this amendment, the bill passed the Senate 
the day of the adjournment of Congress, and being 
hurried into the House, where it was compelled to go 
in consequence of this amendment, it was there, through 
the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Hanks, and amid the 
hurry and confusion of the closing hours of Congress, 
pressed to a vote and the measure is now a law." 

This institution has in the main proved a success, 
and with ample buildings, lands, and other facilities, it 
offers to over 600 students now in attendance unusual 
facilities for the acquirement of an education in the arts 
and sciences, including scientific agriculture and the best 
methods of industrial pursuits. This number of students 
does not include the attendance of the branches located 
at Little Rock and Pine Bluff. 

I believe that the establishment of the branches of 
Law and Medicine at Little Rock was a mistaken policy, 
and that it would have been wiser had all branches — 
except, perhaps, the colored branch at Pine Bluff — been 
maintained at Fayetteville, subject to the general super- 
vision of the proper officers, whose duties require them 
to reside there. 

To the prompt action of the Government of 1868 
are due the life and the vitality of an institution that was 
so long neglected by preceding State Governments. If 
it has not always realized the full expectations of its 
friends, the failure is perhaps attributable to the great 
evil of injecting politics into its management. The school 
interests are those of the entire people of Arkansas, and 
should be kept absolutely free from all pohtical influ- 
ences. 



236 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER X 

^Arkansas House Journal, i860, p. 102. 

^ Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ark., 
1889-90, p. 20. 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1868, pp. 296-299. 

* Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 27-28. 

^ Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ark., 
1868-70. 

® P. 222. 

^ Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ark., 
1889-90, p. 19. 

® Gantt's Digest of Arkansas Statutes, Sec. 2782, p. 531. 

^ Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ark., 
1887-88. 

^"Arkansas Senate Journal, 1871, pp. 345 and 373. 

" Published in Daily Republican, July 12, 1872. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 237 



CHAPTER XI 

STATE AID TO RAILROADS 

In my first message to the Legislature, on the sub- 
ject of "State Aid to Railroads," I used the following 
language -} 

"A railroad bill should be passed before you adjourn 
which will provide for the loaning of the credit of the 
State to such roads as are now, or may hereafter, be 
incorporated, which shall be shown to be of sufficient 
benefit to the State to justify such loan, and which may 
not have received from the general government, by grant 
of lands or otherwise, sufficient assistance to insure the 
completion of the same without the aid of the State." 

The Legislature promptly acted on my recommen- 
dations by the passage in both Houses, with practical 
unanimity, of a bill that was approved July 21, 1868.^ 
This most excellent and well guarded measure, involv- 
ing the loan of the State's credit, was in accordance with 
the provisions of the Constitution, submitted to the people 
for their consideration at the general election of Novem- 
ber 3, 1868, when it was ratified by a large majority. 
Less than six thousand votes were cast against it, and 
it immediately went into full effect. 

The Board of Railroad Commissioners therein pro- 
vided for was promptly organized and, from time to time, 
in strict conformity with the law, granted State Aid to 
the following railroad companies : 



238 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

RATE 
ROAD MILEAGE PER MILE AWARD 

Memphis & Little Rock 

R. R. Co I20 $10,000 $1,200,000 

Little Rock, Pine Bluff & 

New Orleans Railroad 

Company 120 $15,000 $1,800,000 

Mississippi, Ouachita & 

Red River Railroad 

Company 130 $15,000 $1,950,000 

Little Rock & Ft. Smith 

R. R. Co 150 $10,000 $1,500,000 

Little Rock & Helena 

R. R. Co 30 $15,000 $ 450,000 

Cairo & Fulton Railroad 

Co 300 $10,000 $3,000,000 

$9,900,000 

The railroad companies that finally participated In 
the issue of the State Aid Bonds during my administra- 
tion were the first four mentioned in the above enumer- 
ation. The control of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad 
Company was purchased from the B. F. Rice Syndicate 
by H. C. Marquand and Thomas Allen, as shown by 
an affidavit made by Marquand under date of Septem- 
ber 18, 1872, and published in the Gazette, October 8th 
of the same year. The amount paid the Rice Syndicate 
for the franchise was $500,000. The immense grant of 
land by the United States to this company gave it great 
value, and as this new proprietorship had ample funds at 
its command it wisely relinquished the State Aid that had 
been granted under the Rice ownership, and the road was 
completed with reasonable dispatch. 

The Memphis and Little Rock; the Little Rock and 
Fort Smith; the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 239 

Railroads, and a line running from Little Rock to the 
Mississippi River, called the Little Rock and Napoleon 
Railroad, were ante-bellum corporations. After the war 
they were all re-organized under new ownership, the 
first three retained their original names and the Little 
Rock and Napoleon Railroad was called the Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad. Later, under 
the consolidation hereafter referred to, it became a part 
of the Little Rock, Mississippi River, and Texas Rail- 
road. 

At the time the State Aid Bill was passed there were 
only forty-five miles of dilapidated railroad in the State. 
The railroad companies were bankrupt and unable 
to procure credit. Notwithstanding the opposition of the 
Democratic party that had developed, and its false, 
malevolent, and constantly repeated misrepresentations 
as to the manner in which the law was being executed, 
the wonderful stimulus given to the construction of rail- 
roads under this Act will be apparent when I state that 
from the date of the first issue of bonds on April 20, 
1869, to the date of the consolidation of the Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, and New Orleans and the Mississippi, Oua- 
chita, and Red River Railroad Companies in the fall of 
1873, three hundred and fifteen miles of road were built 
by the aid of the State alone, and were then in operation. 

Throughout the entire period of the operations of 
this law, until it ceased to be effective by the repeal by 
the Democrats, on May 29, 1874, of the law provid- 
ing for the payment of interest on the State Railroad 
Aid Bonds, the total mileage built with the bonded 
aid of the State was four hundred and forty-five miles, 
which was 63 per cent, of the total mileage of all the 
roads built in the State within that period. 

During the operations of this law some confusion 
arose in the public mind, perfectly honest in many cases, 



240 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

because of the improper use of the word "award" in- 
stead of "grant," which was used in the law. When it 
was announced in the newspapers that a certain road had 
been "awarded" State Aid it was understood by some per- 
sons that the language meant that the road had actually 
received State Aid, and that no other conditions were 
required. The word "award" is nowhere used in the 
law, and the granting of State Aid and the issuance of 
bonds were two separate and distinct official transac- 
tions.^ 

Poor's "Manual of Railroads," which is accepted as 
authority on railroad matters, states that under five years 
of Republican rule there were seven hundred miles of 
railroad built in Arkansas. After the Democrats came 
into power, with all their boasted prosperity, it took them 
nine years to build as many miles. With the exception 
of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad none of this construc- 
tion could have been accomplished at that time without 
State Aid. 

In support of this statement I quote as follows from 
a letter from C. G. Scott, President of the Little Rock 
and Fort Smith Railroad Company, to the Gazette, Sep- 
tember 4, 1871 : 

"I am satisfied that without this State Aid the road 
could not thus far have been completed, and indeed doubt 
that without State Aid anything at all could have been 
accomplished by our company." 

R. C. Brinkley and B. D. Williams — respectively 
president and superintendent of the Memphis and Little 
Rock Railroad Company — frequently assured me that 
on account of the great expenses caused by the deeply 
overflowed regions of the Cache River and the lands be- 
tween the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers their road 
could not have been built without the State Aid. I know 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 241 

from actual experience that not one mile of railroad on 
the two roads that formed the consolidated line of which 
I afterward became president could have been built with- 
out this aid from the State. 

Other important roads doubtless could have been 
built with this State Aid, had it not been for the demor- 
alizing effects of the panic of 1873 and the constant 
efforts of the Democracy through its organ, the Gazette, 
and other agencies to ruin the State's credit. 

In this connection I quote the following article from 
the Little Rock Republican, of May 24, 1871 : 

''a slander refuted 

"The Gazette, yesterday morning, editorially re- 
ferred to a speech recently delivered by one Fulton 
[a negro] and declared that he had said: 

" 'He looked upon Clayton as the worst man in the 
State, and that at the time the articles of impeachment 
were presented against him. General Brayman, the presi- 
dent of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad, had a letter from 
Clayton in which he proposed to Brayman that he would 
issue bonds to that road if Brayman would pay ten per 
cent of the amount issued, and yet the articles of im- 
peachment were withdrawn.' 

"In order that the public may know the grounds upon 
which the Gazette bases its indorsement of the miserable 
slander to which it gives prominence, we invite atten- 
tion to the following letter from Gen. M. Brayman, 
which effectually settles the matter: 

"Little Rock, May 23, 1871. 
"Editor Republican: I find in the Gazette of this 
morning a statement of E. A. Fukon, in Drew County, 
that at the time the articles of impeachment were pre- 
sented against Governor Clayton, 'General Brayman had 
a letter from Clayton in which he proposed to Brayman 



242 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

that he would issue bonds to the road, if Brayman would 
pay ten per cent of the amount issued.' 

"Allow me to say in connection with this statement 
that I never had such a letter, nor any knowledge of 
its existence. 

"Respectfully, 

"(Signed) M. Brayman." 

On account of the high standing and well-known 
character of General Brayman, his statement, when con- 
sidered along with the charge of the irresponsible negro 
Fulton, should be sufficient, — to say nothing of my own 
positive denial. When repeated at home charges of this 
character had but little effect, but when constantly reiter- 
ated in the money markets of New York and elsewhere, 
— mostly through the Associated Press Agency, controlled 
by the Gazette, — they were very damaging to the public 
credit. 

On August 27, 1 87 1, the following article appeared in 
the columns of the Gazette: 

''our railroads STATE AID 

"It is a well-known fact that owing to over- 
anxiety to complete the roads, or for some other cause, 
our late Governor was not as careful in his issue of bonds 
to our railroad enterprises as he should have been. He 
gave the bonds to the roads in many instances, expect- 
ing the roads to follow; these bonds were thrown on the 
New York market, as much realized from them as could 
be obtained, some little work done, and the enterprises 
brought to a standstill. This is true particularly of the 
Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans, and the Mis- 
sissippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroads. Just ex- 
actly how the affairs of these two corporations now stand 
we are not advised." 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 243 

I admit that I was very anxious for the success of 
those' two enterprises, but I emphatically deny that a 
single bond was issued by me to either company which 
it had not the lawful right to demand. Considering 
the obstacles that were constantly placed in the way, 
every mile of railroad to which bonds were issued dur- 
ing my administration was built and operated within 
a reasonable time. I have in my possession, for each 
issue made by me, an exact duplicate of the original re- 
ceipt and affidavit of the president and other officers, as 
required by the following provision of the State Aid 
Law:* 

"Be it further enacted. That thereupon the Govern- 
or, or the person filling for the time being the executive 
office, shall issue to the President of said Company the 
bonds of the State of Arkansas, bearing the seal of the 
State, attested by the Secretary of State, as provided in 
section I hereof, upon the completion and preparation 
for the iron rails of each succeeding ten miles or more, 
until the entire line or lines of road of said railroad cor- 
poration shall be completed. The President of such 
■ railroad company shall file his official receipt for each 
issue of bonds, accompanied by the affidavit of himself 
and at least four directors, that the bonds, or the avails 
of them, shall be disposed of solely for the purpose of 
providing for the ironing, equipping, building, and com- 
pleting said road." 

For the information of the reader I here insert copies 
of the original receipt and affidavits received by me, in 
compliance with the above provision of law, covering the 
last issue of bonds made during my administration to the 
Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Com- 
pany : 



244 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"I, James M. Lewis, President of the Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Company, do 
hereby solemnly swear that the fifth section of ten con- 
secutive miles of said railroad has been graded, bridged, 
furnished with ties, and made ready for the iron rails, 
in accordance with Act of the General Assembly of the 
State of Arkansas, approved July 21, 1868, entitled, 'An 
Act to Aid in the Construction of Railroads.' 

"(Signed) James M. Lewis, President. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this seventeenth 
day of January, 1871. 

"(Signed) Jno. McClure, Associate Justice, 

"Supreme Court of Arkansas. 

"State of Nev^^ York, 

"City and County of New York. 
"I, Jackson E. Sickels, director of the Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, and New Orleans R. R. Co., do solemnly 
swear that the bonds of the State of Arkansas, about to 
be issued to said railroad company, or the avails of them, 
shall be used solely for the purpose of providing for 
the ironing, equipping, building, and completing said 
company's road. 

"(Signed) Jackson E. Sickels, Director. 

"Sworn to before me this loth day of January, 1871. 
"(Signed) C. Wesley Turrell, 

"Notary Public, N. Y. 

"I, Thomas M. Bowen, director of the Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, and New Orleans railroad company, do here- 
by solemnly swear that the bonds issued to said com- 
pany by the State of Arkansas on the completion of the 
fifth section of ten consecutive miles of the roadbed of 
said railroad shall be disposed of solely for the purpose 
of providing for the ironing, equipping, building, and 
completing said road in accordance with an Act of the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 245 

General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, entitled 'An 
Act to Aid in the Construction of Railroads,' approved 
July 21, 1868. 

"(Signed) Thomas M. Bowen, Director. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 17th day of 
January, 1871. 

"(Signed) Jno. McClure, Associate Justice, 

"Supreme Court of Arkansas. 

"I, O. P. Snyder, director of the Little Rock, Pine 
Bluff, and New Orleans railroad company, do hereby 
solemnly swear that the bonds issued by the State of 
Arkansas to said company on the completion of the fifth 
section of ten consecutive miles of the roadbed of said 
railroad, shall be disposed of solely for the purpose of 
providing for the ironing, equipping, building, and com- 
pleting said road in accordance with an Act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the State of Arkansas, approved July 
21, 1868, entitled 'An Act to Aid in the Construction of 
Railroads.' 

"(Signed) O. P. Snyder, Director. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this seventeenth 
day of January, 1871. 

"(Signed) Jno. McClure, Associate Justice, 

"Supreme Court of Arkansas. 

"I, S. W. Mallory, director of the Little Rock, Pine 
Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Company, do hereby 
solemnly swear that the bonds issued to said company 
by the State of Arkansas on the completion of the fifth 
section of ten consecutive miles of the roadbed of said 
railroad shall be disposed of solely for the purpose of 
providing for the ironing, equipping, building, and com- 
pleting said road in accordance with an Act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the State of Arkansas, approved July 



246 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

21, 1868, entitled 'An Act to Aid in the Construction 
of Railroads.' 

"(Signed) S. W. Mallory, Director. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 17th day of 
January, A. D. 1871. 

"(Signed) Jno. McClure, Associate Justice, 

"Supreme Court of Arkansas. 

"I, James M. Lewis, President of the Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Company, do 
hereby solemnly swear that the bonds issued to said com- 
pany by the State of Arkansas on the completion of the 
fifth section of ten consecutive miles of the roadbed of 
said railroad shall be disposed of solely for the purpose 
of providing for the ironing, equipping, building, and 
completing said road in accordance with an Act of the 
General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, approved 
July 21, 1868, entitled an 'Act to Aid in the Construc- 
tion of Railroads.' 

"(Signed) Jas. M. Lewis, President. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 17th day 
of January, A. D. 1871. 

"(Signed) Jno. McClure, Associate Justice, 

"Supreme Court of Arkansas. 

"Received, Little Rock, Arkansas, January 17, 1871, 
of Powell Clayton, Governor of the State of Arkansas, 
One Hundred and Fifty State Bonds of the denomina- 
tion of One Thousand Dollars each, it being amount of 
State Aid due the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New 
Orleans Railroad Company on completion of fifth sec- 
tion of ten consecutive miles of roadbed of said Rail- 
road, said bonds numbered from 601 to 750 inclusive. 
"(Signed) Jas. M. Lewis, President." 

The whole purpose of the State Aid Bill, as set forth 
in the law above quoted and in the affidavits reproduced, 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 247 

was to aid the railroad companies in the purchase of 
rails and other equipment. 

Some time later the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New 
Orleans Railroad — not having complied with the pro- 
visions of Section 7 of the State Aid Law ^ requiring the 
payment of taxes, or interest, under the provisions of 
Section 8,^ — was sequestered by the State Treasurer, and 
Col. A. H. Ryan was appointed receiver. No better ap- 
pointment could have been made. He was faithful, in- 
dustrious, and frugal, and he worked energetically for the 
completion of the road to Pine Bluff, where a large 
amount of business was awaiting the establishment of 
train service to that point. 

A wagon service was put on by the merchants of that 
city to cover the few miles of unfinished road then in 
the course of construction, which added very materially 
to its revenues; and under the operations of the State 
Aid Law and this increased income the road was com- 
pleted between the eastern terminus on the west bank 
of the Mississippi River and the city of Pine Bluff, and 
put into successful operation. 

Under the act providing for the consolidation of 
railroads,'^ the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans 
and the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroad 
Companies were, in the fall of 1873, consolidated under 
the title of the Little Rock, Mississippi River, and Texas 
Railroad Company. My official services to the State 
having terminated, I became president, with Jackson E. 
Sickels as vice-president and treasurer of said consoli- 
dated lines. 

James M. Lewis and Thomas M. Bowen had been 
the respective presidents of the two companies prior to 
that time, and as neither of them had had any previous 
railroad experience they had made a rather sad mess of 
affairs. I accepted the position very reluctantly, know- 



248 ' THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ing that I was taking up burdens that they were only 
too eager to lay down, but I finally did so, principally 
for the reason that I was personally interested in the 
success of the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans 
railroad, which was the main portion of the consolidated 
lines. It ran through my plantation on ground that I 
had donated to it, and where was then established "Lin- 
wood," one of its most important stations, thus giving 
me constant and reliable shipping facilities to New 
Orleans; whereas previously the uncertain navigation of 
the Arkansas River sometimes delayed shipments for 
months and even years. In addition to plantation facili- 
ties it enabled me to establish a store and shipping agen- 
cies at "Linwood," and also a sawmill adjacent to the 
depot, on the edge of a large body of fine cypress tim- 
ber, affording the means of shipping the product to a 
profitable market. 

With the faithful Ryan in charge, I now joined, in 
New York City, Jackson E. Sickels, who was working on 
a project for the continuation of the road to Little Rock, 
a distance of forty-three miles, and for the extension of 
the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River line to Camden. 
He was negotiating with one Dr. Ryder, who in turn 
was negotiating with a foreign syndicate amply able to 
finance this project. As we were nearing the consum- 
mation of our purposes dark financial clouds gathered 
in the east, which soon developed into the great panic 
of 1873, and, along with more meritorious enterprises 
all over the country, our work came to naught. 

This left the Railroad Company not only subject to 
the State's claim for the non-payment of the taxes [inter- 
est] heretofore referred to, but what was still worse, 
in default of the interest on its first mortgage bonds, a 
number of which had been purchased by others than the 
original owners of the property. This resulted, during 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 249 

the widespread financial crash, in the foreclosure and sale 
of both properties. Under these very discouraging con- 
ditions, the stockholders, being men of moderate means 
and having exhausted to a great extent their private re- 
sources, allowed the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New 
Orleans and the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River 
Railroads to be separately foreclosed and sold at almost 
confiscatory prices. 

Could they have borrowed money under those condi- 
tions, it would have been vastly to their interests to have 
competed with the purchasers who bought the property, 
but the question at that particular time was, where to 
get the money! Soon after the panic ceased the new 
owners of the properties constructed the line from Pine 
Bluff to Little Rock and extended the Mississippi, Oua- 
chita, and Red River line to Warren, the county seat of 
Bradley County. 

In closing this chapter I desire to say that I was 
frequently criticized for my actions in connection with 
the issuance of bonds to aid in the construction of the 
various railroads and, while I was never openly charged 
with appropriating any of them for my own use, it was 
strongly hinted that I had been well paid for the aid I 
had given to the railroads. 

I will state positively that until the year 1892, when 
ten of them came into my possession, I had never owned 
nor held a single bond that had been issued to aid in the 
construction of railroads. Those bonds were received by 
me in the following manner: 

After my brother, John M. Clayton, had been assas- 
sinated, my brother Thomas and I entered into an agree- 
ment to bear equally the expenses of maintaining and edu- 
cating his minor children. I placed two of them in school 
and took the other four with me to the hotel in Eureka 
Springs where I resided. 



250 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

My brother was slow in meeting his half of the ex- 
penses and I advanced his share until he owed me $1,500. 
During the year 1892 I visited him at Chester, Pa., and 
while I was there I suggested to him that he was behind 
in his payments. He had at some previous time invested 
$10,000 in the State Aid bonds issued to the Memphis 
and Little Rock Railroad Company, and he suggested 
that I take his investment and relieve him from all future 
responsibility on behalf of John M. Clayton's children. 

Although in 1874 the State Legislature had passed 
an act relieving the railroad companies of the interest 
obligations on the bonds issued to them, which was fol- 
lowed in 1883 by a constitutional amendment repudiating 
the bonds themselves, and I realized that my brother's 
investment was absolutely worthless, I agreed to his 
proposition and he immediately turned over to me the 
ten bonds. 

These bonds remained in my possession until just be- 
fore I returned from Mexico to the United States, when 
they were stolen. I have always supposed that some of 
the Mexican employees took them and, knowing that they 
were of no value, I made no particular effort to recover 
them. 

These were the only bonds issued to aid in the con- 
struction of railroads that were ever in my possession. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XI 

^ Arkansas House Journal, 1868, p. 295. 

2 Arkansas Laws, 1868, pp. 148-153. 

•''Arkansas Laws, 1868, pp. 149-150, Sees. 4 and 5. 

* Arkansas Laws, 1868, pp. 150-151, Sec. 6. 

^Arkansas Laws, 1868, p. 151. 

^Arkansas Laws, 1868, pp. 151-152. 

^ Arkansas Digest of Statutes, Gantt, pp. 866-867, Sec. 4969. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 251 



CHAPTER XII 

FUNDING THE STATE DEBT 

As the loan of the bonds of the State in aid of the 
construction of railroads depended to a great extent for 
its efficacy upon the power of the State to establish first 
its financial credit, I shall now undertake to give a brief 
history of the Real Estate and State Banks and the fund- 
ing of their indebtedness. 

In 1836 the State of Arkansas was admitted into the 
Union, and on the 12th of September ensuing the first 
General Assembly convened. Its first acts were to charter 
the Real Estate and State Banks. I shall first take up 
the history of the former. 

The charter provided for the loan to this Bank by 
the State of $2,000,000 of its six per cent, bonds. Per- 
haps never before in the history of banking operations 
was such a system adopted, — a system whereby a few 
favored individuals were created stockholders by the act, 
and enjoyed the special privilege of bank ownership with- 
out contributing anything themselves. And these indi- 
viduals, by the loose character of their charter obliga- 
tions, refused successfully for about sixteen years to give 
any information whatever to the Executive and Legis- 
lative Departments of the State concerning its operations. 

The Bank, with an inadequate supply of coin in its 
vaults, opened its doors December 12, 1838, upon a 
specie payment basis, which was suspended less than a 
year thereafter. This was followed about fourteen 



252 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

months later by the default of its interest payments on 
the bonds loaned to it by the State, on which bonds the 
State also soon after defaulted in its interest payments. 
These defaults continued for twenty-six years, when the 
Republican administration funded the entire indebtedness. 

The reader will bear in mind that the first president 
of the Real Estate Bank was John Wilson, who was also 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was 
the originator of the substitution of the bowie-knife for 
the gavel as the emblem of his authority. How long he 
occupied this dual capacity I am not able to ascertain, 
but it is evident that his influence with the Bank and the 
Legislature continued for a long time. 

In view of the Bank's arbitrary actions, before re- 
ferred to, a full history of this stupendous swindle, im- 
properly designated a "Bank," never has been and never 
can be fully made known by authentic history. For the 
further information of the reader, I invite his attention 
to the following extracts from official sources : 

From Governor Yell's message of 1840:^ 

"The bonds were hypothecated in September, 1840, 
but the fact did not leak out till July, 1841 ; and it was 
not the only important fact concealed from the Legis- 
lature. The statement of the condition of the bank 
was drawn up in such a way that it was impossible to 
tell from it whether there was one dollar or one hun- 
dred thousand dollars in specie in its vaults." 

From the message of Governor Adams, dated No- 
vember 5, 1844:^ 

"The condition of the Real Estate Bank is unknown 
to the community whose interest is so deeply concerned 
in its management .... Whether the property and assets 
of the bank are applied to the legitimate objects of its 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 253 

creation, I am unable to say .... I have but little doubt, 
however, that the want of confidence in the operations 
of the bank, as manifested in various portions of the 
State, proceeds more from the fact that all information 
in relation to it has been kept in the hands of a few 
Individuals than from any corruption in its administra- 
tion. The history of the bank already presents the most 
extraordinary picture ever exhibited to a free people. In 
the first place, a public corporation is created by the 
solemn act of the legislative department of the Govern- 
ment, involving the rights and privileges of individuals 
as well as the State. In the next place, the act of incor- 
poration giving existence to the bank is destroyed by an 
ex parte operation of a few individuals, by which a deed 
of assignment was made to a few men denominated resid- 
uary trustees, whereby the assets of the bank of every 
description were transferred into the hands of the said 
residuary trustees and their oflicers. From that period 
the operations and management of the bank have been 
involved in profound mystery." 

From Governor Drew's message of 1846:^ 

"The limited knowledge which, in common with the 
public, I possess of the affairs of the Real Estate Bank 
does not enable me to add much to the suggestions of 
my predecessor. I concur with him as to the propriety 
of an investigation into the affairs of that institution. 
It is a monstrous proposition which I have heard ad- 
vanced, that the legislature had no rightful authority to 
examine Into the affairs of this institution." 

From the message of Governor Roane, November, 
1850:* 

"Since the date of her assignment the Real Estate 
Bank has been a sealed book to all those uninitiated in 
the banking operations of the present day, whether pri- 



254 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

vate individuals or public officers, save so far as the 
native politeness and gentlemanly bearing of her worthy 
secretary may prompt him to gratify the curious and 
enlighten the public. History, prior to this date, un- 
fortunately however for the State, reminds us of a few 
facts in connection with this mystic monument of modern 
banking. 

"In 1836 and 1837 the State of Arkansas issued 1,530 
bonds of $1,000 each, which were sold by the Real Estate 
Bank at their par value; subsequently 500 other bonds 
for a like amount were issued to this bank and by her 
hypothecated for the sum of $122,389.77, realizing in 
all from the sale of these bonds $1,652,389.77, which 
was to constitute her capital for the purpose of bank- 
ing. We also know that after discounting heavily for a 
time she suspended payment, closed her doors, and made 
an assignment of all her assets, appointed trustees to take 
charge of them, with a clerk to keep the accounts and an 
attorney to advise and control them, and then provide 
for their payment. 

"Here the authentic history of this institution ceases. 
What accounts may have reached us of her transactions 
wear more the gaudy apparel of romance than the plain 
habiliments of reality. And although the State has such 
a deep interest in the correct management and final settle- 
ment of this institution, she sets her authority at defiance, 
and claims the right to close her doors in the face of 
her officers, acknowledging that when she shall be con- 
demned to lay down the heavy debt which she has con- 
tracted the State must take it up." 

From the message of Governor Conway, November 
4, 1856:^ 

"Notwithstanding all this, if the people of the State 
do not ultimately obtain full and correct information of 
the conditions of the Bank by means of the suit now pend- 
ing, it will not be the fault of the executive. To the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 255 

General Assembly the executive appeals for the neces- 
sary discretionary powers and means to enable him to 
have this suit faithfully and vigorously prosecuted, so 
that the laws on the subject may be effectively executed. 
Then the true condition of the bank will be known, the 
interests of the State and stockholders well looked to, 
and the mysteries which have so long hung around the 
institution will be unveiled, and it is to be hoped that the 
day will never again come when the executive of the 
State, in his message to the General Assembly, will be 
compelled to compare an institution like this, involving 
the interests, credit, and honor of the State in millions 
of dollars, to a 'sealed book,' so far as its transactions 
are known to the authorities of the State or the people." 

At the session of the Legislature of 1852-53 an act 
was passed providing for the appointment of a joint 
committee to inquire into the affairs of the Real Estate 
Bank. From the report of this committee, made in 
1856, I give the following extracts: 

"At the session of 1852-53 the legislature resumed 
its efforts to arrive at a knowledge of the condition of 
the bank, and appointed a committee to inquire into 
its affairs." ® 

"An act was passed January the 15th, 1855, 'to estal> 
lish a separate court of chancery at the seat of Govern- 
ment, so that the causes of the State, including that 
against the trustees and officers of the Real Estate Bank, 
and those of individuals, may be determined as early as 
practicable.' " '^ 

"In the session of 1844-45 an amendment to the Con- 
stitution was proposed, in which it is declared that 'No 
bank or banking institution shall be hereafter incorpo- 
rated or established in this State,' which amendment was 
unanimously adopted by both houses at the session of 
1846-47."' 



256 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Under the authority of the Legislature of 1856 full 
powers were granted the Governor to investigate thor- 
oughly the conditions of this bank, among which powers 
was the authority to appoint two expert accountants to 
aid him in his investigation, which resulted in the appoint- 
ment of Messrs. William M. Gouge and William R. 
Miller. Mr. Gouge had a long record of service in the 
sub-treasury department at Washington, D. C. Mr. 
Miller was afterward Governor of the State. 

Their able report upon the condition of the bank, 
rendered to Governor Conway on October 20, 1856, is 
full of important information, among which is the fact 
that none of the bonds of this bank were held by citi- 
zens of Arkansas, as shown by the following extract:^ 

"Of the amount due for bonds, upwards of $500,000 
was due to the United States Treasury Department for 
an investment made by it of the funds of the Smithsonian 
Institute. The residue was due to various parties in the 
Atlantic States and Europe." 

Therefore, no one in Arkansas raised his voice against 
the failure of this bank and the State to preserve the 
credit of Arkansas. The United States was responsible 
for the payment of the interest on the trust fund invest- 
ments, and the other bonds were owned by persons in 
whose interest no one seemed to be concerned. 

The second act of the Legislature of 1836 was to 
incorporate the State Bank of Arkansas, to which a loan 
of $1,000,000 of State bonds was made. This bank 
commenced business in August, 1837, with a paid up 
capital of $396,000, which was increased by November 
6 to $413,105.29. It began specie payment in January, 
1839, ^^^ suspended in November of the same year. On 
the 22d of December, 1840, an act was passed ^"^ which 
provided that the State Bank and its branches should re- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 257 

sume and continue specie payments simultaneously with 
the banks of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama, and 
that it should not again suspend under any circumstances. 
This act did not prove effective, however, and on January 
31, 1843,^^ an act was passed to place the State Bank In 
liquidation. 

About this time the State Bank defaulted in the pay- 
ment of interest on the State bonds loaned to it, and 
the State was left to "hold the bag," with nothing in it 
to meet its interest obligations. 

From the report of the Joint Legislative Committee 
on Banks, dated December 23, 1846, I quote as follows: 

"The State mainly lived on the means of the bank 
[The State Bank] from its commencement, and as long 
as it had a dollar." ^^ 

I shall now proceed to narrate what occurred in rela- 
tion to both banks during the term of my administration 
as Governor of Arkansas. In my message to the General 
Assembly, November 24, 1868, after referring the 
Assembly to the report of Hon. J. R. Berry, Auditor of 
State, in which he named the amount of the public debt 
on account of the Real Estate and State Banks of Ar- 
kansas, I made the following recommendations :^^ 

"I regret that the disturbed condition of the State 
and the pressure of official business have prevented me 
from giving the matter sufficient investigation to enable 
me to lay before you any terms of adjustment. 

"I would respectfully recommend that you take steps 
toward the funding of the indebtedness by the appoint- 
ment of a suitable person as commissioner to negotiate 
with the holders of the bonds; and, upon his action being 
approved by the proper authority, that the State Auditor 
and State Treasurer be authorized to issue new bonds 
and cancel the old ones." 



258 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

After much discussion in the House, growing out 
of the provision that required the funding of the full 
amount of the Real Estate and State Bank bonds, includ- 
ing the Holford bonds, both Houses passed the bill, which 
was approved April 6, 1869.^^ 

I selected the American Exchange National Bank of 
New York City as the fiscal agent of the State, to con- 
duct the exchange of new bonds for a corresponding 
amount of the old indebtedness. In order that there 
should be no chance for the perfected bonds to be inter- 
cepted in transit from Little Rock to New York City 
(means of communication by express at that time being 
very imperfect) I had them duly executed with the ex- 
ception of my signature as Governor, which I supplied 
in New York City, where I turned them over to the 
fiscal agent and took his receipt therefor. 

Immediately thereafter I issued the following notice: 

"Executive Department, State of Arkansas, 

"Little Rock, August 12, 1869. 
"To Whom It May Concern : NOTICE is hereby 
given that I am prepared to carry into execution the 
provisions of an act of the Legislature of the State of 
Arkansas, entitled 'An Act to Provide for the Funding 
of the Public Debt of the State.' All persons holding 
the old bonds of the State can have the same, with accrued 
interest thereon, exchanged for new bonds by present- 
ing them to the American Exchange National Bank, in 
the city of New York. 

"(Signed) Powell Clayton, 

"Governor." 

Soon after the passage of the Act it was whispered 
around that money had been corruptly used in the Legis- 
lature for that purpose, and my attention was specifically 
called to the peculiar features of the Holford Bond 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 259 

transaction. Having resolved not only to investigate the 
charge of corruption, but also to examine more fully 
into the history of the Holford Bonds, I gave the fiscal 
agent instructions to proceed with the exchange of all 
bonds except, for the time being, those known as the 
Holford Bonds, and to hold the latter in abeyance until 
further instructed. This action upon my part was se- 
verely criticised in the following communication, pub- 
lished by the Gazette, September 5, 1869, signed "Re- 
publican" : 

"Governor Clayton knows very well that he will, 
sooner or later, fund these bonds, because the law allows 
him no discretion in the premises, and a bill which gave 
him that discretion was voted down last winter. But he 
also knows that the present is a critical period in the 
negotiations for money to build the roads, and that by 
this act of his he can impair the credit of the State and 
suspend the progress of improvement. He knows that 
this will involve pecuniary loss to many, and this is to 
him an argument that pecuniary means will be adopted 
to avert the evil; and these pecuniary means, he trusts, 
will fatten himself and feed his little nest of obscene 
birds .... 

"In this matter he is acting in wretched bad faith, 
and his motives add all the moral turpitude of personal 
dishonesty to official malfeasance. He is thus making a 
most pitiable exhibition of the depravity of human nature, 
and demonstrating to the world how low a man can sink 
himself in the debasing pursuit of sordid gains." 

This Gazette article was followed by others still 
more scurrilous. It turned out that they were all insti- 
gated by Mr. Peak, the former editor of the Republican, 
who was to receive for his services a certain compensation 
from the Ft. Smith Railroad Company, for the payment 
of which he afterward brought suit and thus the whole 



26o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

transaction came to light. In this connection I quote 
from the Gazette of October 24, 1872, as follows: 

"SUB ROSA. ... In like manner all our well in- 
tended efforts to keep Mr. Peak quiet in his little bed 
have failed, and he still wants to engage in 'mutual 
inquiry and discussion.' The Journal of Monday con- 
tains another card over his signature. He appears 
oblivious of the ridiculous (to say the least) attitude he 
presents to the public. Strange to say, he takes a rose- 
colored view of his situation. Having previously de- 
clared that, 'It is not true that, as the old editor of the 
Republican, or in any other manner, I favored the Hol- 
ford Bond Swindle, but, on the contrary, as is well known 
to every man who took an active interest in that measure, 
I was its earliest and most earnest and persistent oppo- 
nent,' he now admits that he brought suit for $5,000 and 
recovered $500 damages against the Little Rock and 
Ft. Smith Railroad Company for service rendered in 
writing, at their instance and request, articles to influ- 
ence Governor Clayton to execute the provisions of an 
act of the Legislature ! The act referred to was the 
act attempting to legalize the Holford Bond swindle! 
That is to say, having once, from principle alone, opposed 
the measure almost to its defeat before the legislature, 
he afterwards, for pay, agreed to write and surrepti- 
tiously procure the publication of articles in the Gazette, 
intended to influence Governor Clayton to execute these 
illegal provisions after they were put into the semblance 
of law I" 

To have legally changed the provisions of the Act 
would have required a re-assembling of the Legislature, 
and this perhaps would have imperiled the whole meas- 
ure. In obedience to the only power conferred upon me, I 
directed the fiscal agent to exchange the Holford Bonds 
just as he did the others. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 261 

During my short absence in New York on this fund- 
ing business a conspiracy was hatched between the Demo- 
cratic leaders at Little Rock and some of Lieutenant- 
Governor Johnson's supporters, which might have 
plunged the State into serious disturbances had not my 
prompt return to the Capital prevented. It was planned 
to have the Lieutenant-Governor take possession of the 
executive office under the pretext of the following pro- 
vision of the State Constitution:^^ 

"In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his 
removal from office, death, resignation, inability or re- 
moval from the State, the powers and duties of the 
Governor shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor 
during the residue of the term, or until the disabilities of 
the Governor are removed." 

The reader will readily discern that the Governor's 
removal from the State and his temporary absence on 
State business were two very distinctly different things. 
But the Democratic leaders were ready to stir up trouble 
under any pretext, provided they could get Johnson to 
take the initiative, which subsequent events show he was 
quite willing to do. 

To show the extreme purposes of this movement, I 
reproduce a communication signed "X" — a pseudonym 
for Thomas C. Peak, heretofore referred to ^^ — pub- 
lished by the Gazette, August i, 1869 : 

"It Is conceded by his friends and members of the 
coordinate departments of the State Government that 
'Governor' Clayton has gone out of the State, without 
giving notice to the Lieutenant-Governor, his constitu- 
tional successor in such event by virtue of the provisions 
of section ten of article six, of the Constitution, which 
declares: 



262 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

" 'In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his 
removal from office, death, resignation, inability or re- 
moval from the State, the powers and duties of the Gov- 
ernor shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor dur- 
ing the residue of the term, or until the disabilities of the 
Governor are removed.' 

"Arguing that the contingency contemplated has hap- 
pened in the temporary removal of the Governor to 
New York to engage for a while in the business of a 
Wall Street broker, the conservative Republicans of the 
State have urged upon the Lieutenant-Governor, who is 
said to be on his way here from his home in Madison 
County, to assume at once the duties and authority of 
Governor of the State, and proceed to the arrest of the 
absconding Governor and such of his deputies and 
subordinates as have been aiding and abetting him in 
various violations of the Constitution, and fraudulent and 
treasonable practices, and hold them in arrest to answer 
articles of impeachment to be preferred against them by 
the Legislature, which, it is asserted. Governor Johnson 
will assemble at the capital without delay. Clayton's 
guilt and that of his co-conspirators can be established 
beyond a doubt by such an array of evidence, it is claimed 
by the conservative Republicans who have advised the 
course, that the Senate, although there is a majority of 
Clayton's creatures in that body of two, will be bound 
to convict him and deprive him of his office for the resi- 
due of his term. 

"This is a bold program; but it is said that Governor 
Johnson has the mind and heart to carry it out without 
hesitation; and that the backing of an undoubted influ- 
ence, formidable and irresistible, of the white and col- 
ored members of the Republican party of this State is 
ready to be afforded him. This is most important if 
true. And that it is true many circumstances go to tes- 
tify. It would not only give to the Lieutenant-Governor 
a national reputation for pluck and enterprise, but would 
make him irresistible forever before the people of Ar- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 263 

kansas; in whose estimation the oppressions and villainies 
of Clayton have reached an excess intolerable under any 
other circumstances than those which surround them at 
this time. This is rumor, suggested perhaps by the sup- 
posed feasibility of the plan. 

"(Signed) X." 

I was notified of this movement and, having com- 
pleted my business in New York, I returned to Little 
Rock and immediately resumed my official duties. Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Johnson's home was at Huntsville, the 
county seat of Madison County, situated in the extreme 
northwestern part of the State, and could not be reached 
by any public conveyance; hence, it required consider- 
able time for the two messengers to reach him, and for 
him to reach the Capital. To prepare the people for 
the commotion that would follow the success of their 
scheme, the two messengers sent to confer with John- 
son circulated alarming and lying reports along their 
route, as is shown by the following extract from the 
Republican of August 13, 1869: 

"EXTRAORDINARY REVELATIONS. We re- 
ceived a call yesterday morning from our friend, Capt. 
Chas. E. Berry, sheriff of Franklin County, who arrived 
in the city Wednesday evening direct from his home, for 
the purpose of settling the taxes of his county with the 
Treasurer and Auditor. 

"We learn from him that a great commotion was 
created in Ozark before he left. It seems that parties 
from Little Rock on their way to Huntsville reported 
that Governor Clayton had left the State, taking with 
him all the funds of the State, as well as the seal of the 
State, and that several county sheriffs who had not paid 
over were to follow the Governor and turn over to him 
all funds In their hands, and that Lieutenant-Governor 



264 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Johnson was coming to Little Rock to put a stop to the 
robbery. The two individuals making for Madison 
County told the story with so much earnestness that some 
of the people were foolish enough to believe them. Cap- 
tain Berry's bondsmen were extremely anxious about the 
matter, although the Captain was permitted to come to 
the city and make his settlement. No doubt the story 
was accepted as true after seeing the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, with one of the party, take passage on the Ameri- 
can for Little Rock. 

"The story was a base slander and an outrage upon 
the people. Lieutenant-Governor James M. Johnson and 
J. E. Richardson, the friend who went after him, arrived 
in Little Rock Wednesday evening. (The other friend 
returned to this city on Saturday last.)" 

The J, E. Richardson referred to was a correspondent 
of a Northern newspaper, and not a citizen of the State. 
The name of the other emissary I cannot recall. 

A few days after my return Johnson appeared on 
the scene, only to find that all his ambitious dreams had 
vanished into thin air. There seemed nothing left for 
him to do but to tuck his caudal appendage between his 
legs and sneak back to his mountain home. To relieve 
the humiliation of his defeat, he had a small crowd 
assemble on the night of August 13, 1869, in front of 
the Anthony House, under the pretext of a serenade. To 
this gathering he delivered in a slightly modified form to 
suit the occasion the speech that he would have given in 
its entirety had his appearance upon the scene been oppor- 
tune. In this speech, by his misrepresentation of facts, 
he showed that he was either not well informed or was 
ready to circulate new lies invented for the occasion and 
repeat old ones that had already been exploded. The 
following is the Gazette report of the speech in question, 
under date of August 14, 1869: 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 265 

"This compliment was truly agreeable to him. He 
was satisfied that the people of Little Rock, with the peo- 
ple of the entire State, were anxious to hear from one of 
the officials of the State as much of the history or trans- 
actions of the Government as he was in possession of. 
The curiosity of the people residing outside of this city 
is centered in Little Rock, — to know what kind of a 
government we are living under. 

"A party came into power in this State more than 
one year ago, belonging to the National Republican 
party; but soon after this a portion of these officers 
inaugurated a system known as radicalism. Another wing 
proposed to adhere to the national platform. But as soon 
as the election of last year was over those who held the 
highest positions in the State government undertook to 
dictate to the people. A few of us stood up manfully 
and battled for Republican principles. But the others 
assumed the right to dictate the poHcy of the party, and 
inaugurated a reign of terror for the purpose of coercing 
every honest officer in the State into a support of their 
infamous measures. He took it for granted that this 
compliment was paid to one who dared oppose their 
swindUng operations. He was outspoken on every occa- 
sion when schemes concocted for robbing the people were 
proposed; he was in favor of an honest and economical 
administration of the affairs of the government. 

"After the reconstruction laws of Congress had been 
accepted by the people as a fixed fact, this mighty man, 
Powell Clayton, declared war on the people. He opposed 
it. Many honest Republicans had been led astray, think- 
ing they ought to support the State government. He 
too was in favor of upholding the State government, but 
when the officers had violated their obligations he 
thought it time they should be checked. 

"He had been traduced by the press of the State 
for the past eight months and had made no reply. They 
had it all their own way. It is said that Johnson has sold 
out to the Democracy. No Democrat ever heard him 



266 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

making overtures, — but always found him for an honest 
administration of the government. 

"You hear much talk about railroads, free schools, 
etc. What has been done? Bogus railroad companies 
have been organized, and mere adventurers, — men of 
straw, — given control. The people voted almost unani- 
mously for State Aid to railroads. How was this aid 
dispensed? What investigations have been made as to 
whether the companies are competent and reliable to carry 
out their part of the agreement? The only question 
asked by those who dispensed this aid was. Will it put 
money in our pockets? lo per cent, is wanted. If they 
can get that out of the $13,000,000 loan to the various 
companies, the executive and his three commissioners 
will be rich. 

"A Voice: Fill up their carpet bags. 

"The Speaker: A carpet bag would not hold it, — it 
will take a goods box. 

"The Executive, Secretary of State, and others, it is 
said even with the seal of the State, go to New York and 
hawk the bonds of Arkansas through her streets. If 
the seal is in the office of the Secretary of State, any 
citizen has a right to ask for its exhibition. The people 
pay taxes and have a right to know what their servants 
are doing. 

"Thirty-odd years ago some bonds were taken to 
New York, under the instruction of the Legislature, who 
appointed the commissioners. But under radical rule the 
Governor appoints his own commissioners, and goes him- 
self to reside in Gotham while the transaction progresses. 

"The executive office is in Little Rock, — not New 
York, — and requires the Governor to execute the duties 
of the same at this place. But he travels from pillar 
to post. By the custom that used to prevail, courtesy 
required that when a Governor went without the bounds 
of the State he invited the next officer in rank to preside 
in his absence. But the present Governor left without 
telling anybody where he was going, except those who 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 267 

were necessary to his schemes. Why was this? Why 
not notify the Lieutenant-Governor? The people, — by 
those bonds and the taxes they pay into the treasury, — 
are interested in this question. It is obvious there was 
something which it was necessary to cover up. Is that 
radicahsm? This man wields the scepter of an emperor, 
a despot as he is. You can tell when radical rule is upon 
you — the tax gatherers begin to make their appearance. 
But this Governor created a proxy to act in his absence, 
who was also Secretary of State and private secretary; 
and the same little Methodist preacher also holds the fat 
position of public printer. No wonder he had the frights 
and was running up and down the streets for two weeks 
telegraphing to his master. The affairs of State hung 
upon his limbs a 'world too wide.' 

"If we organize a party it will not be necessary to 
give it another name than anti-Clayton, anti-radical, and 
we will be sure to win. He felt safe in asserting that 
at the next election the Executive now in control could 
not get one-tenth of the vote of all classes put together. 
There is general disquietude throughout the State. He 
felt it everywhere. He could read it here. All want to 
know what he came here for, and he proposed to satisfy 
them. When he first heard of the Governor's absence 
he expected by every mail to receive official notification 
of the fact. The loyal people of his county, — whom the 
carpet-baggers call disloyal, — insisted on his coming to 
the Capital. He declined until they became clamorous. 
They said something was wrong, and urged him to come 
at once and investigate what these men were doing. There 
is no despot that treats his subjects as does this Gov- 
ernor. He came here to obey the will of the people. 
When he arrived he found the Governor had hastened 
back and was occupying the executive chair. He was 
glad of it, and hoped he would remain at home until 
he learns sufficient politeness to invite his constitutional 
alternate to take his place when he has another specula- 
tion on hand. 



268 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"A few of us last winter made an effort to organize 
a more moderate party. We proposed to remove the 
political disabilities of the men who pay the taxes to sup- 
port the government. We were in the minority then; 
but he believed the good people would vote as a unit to 
remove every cause of complaint, of strife and prejudice 
that now exists, and do it in the name of the Republican 
party. At the time we proposed to do this we could 
do nothing beyond making a protest against the ras- 
calities of the radicals. Our prediction then of what 
would be the policy of the Republican party has been 
verified in the election recently held in Virginia and 
Tennessee. Republicans have been elected in both who 
stand squarely upon the national platform. As far as 
we can ascertain, the President himself is in favor of 
removing these disabilities. Men whine about your city 
saying these elections are Democratic or Rebel victories; 
but he would say, here, as a Republican, that it was a 
victory to the good people of Tennessee and Virginia, 
to be followed by Texas and Mississippi. He believed 
good men could be elected all over the Southern States; 
and he said that it was the policy of the Republican party 
to remove the disabilities of everybody. It is the teach- 
ing of the Republican party. There are a set of office- 
holding men here who know they can do nothing if all 
the people are enfranchised, unless it is accomplished 
by fraud, martial law, setting aside of registration and 
elections, etc., and they want to resort to such means 
again to perpetuate their power, — but they must not 
do it. 

"He had felt it his duty to give a history of his con- 
nection with the State government and the Governor's 
late trip. His motives would be understood. The time 
had come for the down-trodden people of Arkansas to 
raise their heads and look the men who should be their 
servants in the face, and be satisfied with nothing but 
their rights. He was sorry to see men's mouths closed, 
— who seem to look no higher than the throne. He pro- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 269 

posed to look to the power behind the throne, — the peo- 
ple. We have nothing to expect from the Governor. 
The time has come for the people and the press to be 
free. How is it with the Republican press? Every Re- 
publican paper which receives the patronage dispensed 
by the Governor is muzzled. The radical press is not 
the exponent of the principles of anybody but Powell 
Clayton, who has many of these little thumb papers 
scattered throughout the State. When his spies find one 
of them that is ready to go down a carpet-bagger, or per- 
haps a Methodist preacher, says to him, 'Go to the 
Governor; get the public printing; go halves with him, 
and be his organ.' Unfortunately, unless the people sup- 
port honest newspapers that live on their merits, it will 
not be long until the Governor owns the entire press of 
the State. But he may have all the officers in the State, 
all the presses, and goods boxes of bonds, yet the people 
will rise up at the ballot-box and put them down. The 
people do know their rights, and knowing dare main- 
tain them. 

"A Voice: How about registration? 

"The Speaker: There is a law on our statute books 
which requires a certain oath to be taken before an 
elector is qualified. Those who are not disfranchised 
have the right to vote on subscribing to that oath, and 
there seems to be no division as to the practicability of 
taking it." 

There is no doubt but that this speech was instigated 
by the Democrats to furnish an incentive for my assas- 
sination. It placed my life in great peril, as a vacancy 
in the gubernatorial office would have resulted in the ac- 
cession of Lieut.-Gov. James M. Johnson to the executive 
chair, and that would have given the Democrats imme- 
diate control of the State Government. 

In this speech Johnson showed how thoroughly his 
mind was turned by Democratic blarney and promises of 



270 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

aid in the accomplishment of his future purposes. It 
caused general alarm among the Republicans of the State, 
lest by the contingency of my death, or by the accomplish- 
ment of other devices, he might get possession of the 
executive chair. This feeling of alarm was justified by 
a later attempt to get possession of the gubernatorial 
office by bogus impeachment proceedings. In this speech 
he indorsed the course of Governors Senter, of Tennes- 
see, and Walker, of Virginia, in their base betrayal of 
the Republican party in those States. 

On April 25, 1896, I received a letter from the Ar- 
kansas Auditor of State, C. B. Mills, dated the previous 
day, announcing alleged irregularities in the funding of 
the State Debt by me some twenty-five years before. To 
this letter I immediately replied, acknowledging its re- 
ceipt and asking for additional information, which was 
given in his letter of May i, upon the receipt of which I 
immediately instituted a thorough investigation. 

The matter at first caused me some anxiety; not be- 
cause I felt the least shadow of doubt as to the legality 
of all my transactions in the premises, but because of 
the very large defalcations of Treasurer Churchill and 
Auditor Crawford, which were brought to light in the 
year 1881. I feared that in order to furnish vouchers 
for their false accounts they might in some way have 
used the bonds of the State that were left over in the 
funding process. I therefore brought Auditor Mills' 
letter to the attention of the former officers, — Treasurer 
Page, Auditor Berry, and Governor Hadley, — and re- 
quested such Information on the subject as they might 
be able to give. 

In the course of my investigations I took under con- 
sideration my message to the Legislature, delivered Janu- 
ary 4, 1 87 1, giving an account of my stewardship in the 
funding transactions, as follows :^''^ 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 271 

"In order to carry out the provisions of an act en- 
titled 'An Act to Provide for the Funding of the Public 
Debt of the State' I designated the American Exchange 
National Bank of the city of New York as the fiscal 
agency of the State, and placed in its possession, with 
proper instructions, 3,000 bonds of the State, properly 
sealed and attested, the same being registered in the 
office of the Auditor. Of this number the fiscal agent 
has exchanged for old bonds and accrued Interest, twenty- 
six hundred and twelve new bonds, leaving In his pos- 
session to be exchanged, from time to time, as applica- 
tion is made, three hundred and eighty-eight bonds. I 
recommend that a committee of the Legislature be raised 
to verify the exchanges already made, and if they be 
found to be correct, to destroy the old bonds . . . ." 

After examining this message I wrote to the Ameri- 
can Exchange National Bank of New York City, under 
date of May 18, 1896, and requested such information 
as they possessed upon the subject, to which the bank 
replied by telegram on May 27 as follows : 

"New York, May 27, 1896. 
"Powell Clayton, Eureka Springs, Ark. 

"We hold receipts signed Henry Page, State Treas- 
urer, and the Union Trust Company of New York, dated 
December seventy and September seventy-one, for three 
hundred seventeen thousand bonds deliverd in accordance 
with your instructions. 

"American Exchange National Bank." 

This telegram was confirmed by the following letter: 

"New York, May 27, 1896. 
"Powell Clayton, Esq., 
"Eureka Springs, 

"Arkansas. 
"Dear Sir: After considerable hunting, we have 
discovered and, in response to your letter of the i8th 



272 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

inst., state that we hold receipts signed 'Henry Page, 
State Treasurer, and the Union Trust Company of New 
York,' for $317,000 bonds. 

"The numbers are as follows: 

"From 641 to 890 inclusive. 
"891 to 993 
"2043 to 2050 " 

"All these transactions must have been advised to 
you at the time, and there must be in the possession of 
the State full particulars in regard to the entire matter, 
and it would seem to us that it would have caused you 
much less trouble to have hunted this up at your end 
than to have sought the information at our end. Never- 
theless, we have done the best we could in the matter 
at the moment, and trust the information will be what 
you need. 

"Yours respectfully, 

"(Signed) D.Clark, 

"President." 

I was about to communicate this information to Audi- 
tor Mills for his benefit when my attention was called 
to the following interview given by him to the Little Rock 
Democrat, May 27, 1896: 

"fraudulent bonds, state auditor mills discovers 

A mare's nest in ARKANSAS FINANCE. BOGUS OBLI- 
GATIONS OF '69. TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY BONDS 
WERE ISSUED WITHOUT AUTHORITY DURING CLAY- 
TON'S TENURE OF OFFICE. SOME ONE IS RESPON- 
SIBLE. OUR BONDED INDEBTEDNESS APPEARS TO BE 
THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION LESS THAN HAS 
BEEN SUPPOSED. 

"State Auditor C. B. Mills has discovered a mare's 
nest, and if everything works out properly it will re- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 273 

suit in the incubation of some stern facts which will prac- 
tically sweep away the greater part of the bonded indebt- 
edness of the State. Should the allegations be made 
plausible after a thorough investigation of certain old 
bond transactions dating back to reconstruction times, 
and should the State win in the swamp land contro- 
versy now pending in Congress, the bonded indebt- 
edness now hanging over the State will be reduced to a 
minimum, which will no longer be burdensome, and will 
be discharged with comparative ease. In the statement 
of the case, as presented by Auditor Mills, charges are 
made which it is quite possible will have a thorough airing 
in our courts. The first intimation that such a state of 
affairs exists was from the following advertisement, which 
appeared in the current issue of the Commercial and 
Financial Chronicle, of New York: 

'' ^STATE OF ARKANSAS BONDS OF 1 869 

" 'The holders of Arkansas 6 per cent bonds of the 
1869 series, Nos. 642, 707 to 722, 746 to 773, 787 to 
795, 875 to 877, and 883 to 890 (sixty-five bonds) may 
learn something of interest to them by addressing 

"Auditor of State, 

" 'Little Rock, Ark.' 

"A Democrat reporter called on Auditor Mills and 
asked for an explanation. Following is his reply: 

" 'The bonds referred to in that advertisement were 
illegally issued while Powell Clayton was Governor, 
under act of April 6, 1869, but not in compliance with 
the act. There were 192 bonds of a batch of 500, 
registered August 19, 1869, for which the State received 
no consideration; ninety-eight of them were returned and 
cancelled without cost to the State except one-half year's 
interest on forty-six of them; thirty of them have been 



274 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

redeemed by the State at a cost of $49,740, and sixty- 
five are still outstanding, and have been estimated as the 
undisputed indebtedness of the State, and were in the last 
report recorded at $158,000. 

" 'There were not in existence at the time State and 
Real Estate bank bonds sufficient to authorize the issu- 
ance of as many bonds under that act as were issued. 
While the authorities disregarded the spirit and evident 
intent of the law, they were doubtless originally issued 
under a misapprehension of the amount of outstanding 
State and Real Estate bank bonds, or the amount to be 
funded. 

" 'At the date of the passage of the act 1773 of the 
3030 Real Estate and State bank bonds were in the State 
and United States Treasury, and not subject to be funded, 
aggregating $3,901,410. They began to be cancelled 
and turned into the State Treasury as early as 1849: 
1 148 bonds were properly funded for 3 no bonds issued 
under the 1869 act. Henry Page, as treasurer, received 
$140,456 of the Real Estate and State bank bonds and 
coupons on his sinking fund account, and other treas- 
urers since that have received twenty-seven more, amount- 
ing to $81,513.15, and at least eight are still outstand- 
ing. I think there will be no trouble to show to any 
court of competent jurisdiction that there was no basis 
for 240 of the bonds issued under that act. The fact 
that 145 of them were returned and cancelled is evidence 
that they at least were wrongfully issued. They were 
not all returned at one time. Ninety-five were returned 
in 1875, and fifty in November, 1879. Of the thirty re- 
deemed fifteen were paid in on Real Estate bank lands, 
eight were exchanged for certificates of indebtedness, and 
seven for Loughborough bonds with the State board of 
common school commissioners. 

" 'I reported 143 State and Real Estate bank bonds 
outstanding October, 1894, besides the bonds held by the 
United States government. I was governed by the face 
of the original record in the treasurer's oflice, as I pre- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 275 

sume my predecessors since reconstruction have been, and 
these reports of so large a number of these old bonds 
outstanding led to the investigation I have made. 

" 'When Henry Page was treasurer he reported by 
numbers the outstanding Real Estate and State bank 
bonds, and included at least sixty bonds that were then, 
and had been for several years prior, and are now in the 
treasury vaults, while further investigation shows seventy- 
three more of them have been refunded and redeemed, 
which appear upon the register as outstanding since 1872. 

" 'This will make a difference of $547,970 from my 
report and appHes to all previous reports since 1872, 
except as to accruing interest. 

" 'Our legal bonded indebtedness was $705,960 less 
than reported in 1894. I think that Messrs. Clayton and 
Page are, or ought to be, liable to the State for the 
$49,740 the State paid to redeem the thirty-five bonds 
illegally issued. 

" 'For some time I have been prosecuting the inves- 
tigation, and I have come to the conclusion that there 
is something crooked somewhere, and even if the party 
responsible for it cannot be discovered and held liable 
for such fraudulent issuance of obligations from which 
the State derived not one cent of benefit, the fact should 
be established and the people at least relieved from the 
burden of an unjust and wholly unauthorized debt. I 
have been in communication with Gen. Powell Clayton 
on the subject, but the correspondence has not yet been 
productive of results. I have been urging upon the State 
debt board the necessity of instituting proceedings 
which will bring about the needed relief. Through the 
advertisement in the Chronicle I have located several of 
the outstanding bonds in the hands of New York capi- 
talists and in other places, but the replies are uniformly 
indefinite as to number and specific nature. As soon as 
this may be definitely detern^ined, I shall advise the insti- 
tution of a suit to enjoin the treasurer from the payment 
of any more of the bogus bonds.' " 



276 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

This interview, so full of false statements and un- 
just reflections upon my integrity in connection with the 
business referred to, I brought to the attention of Auditor 
Mills in my letter of June 8, 1896, as follows: 

"My attention has been called to a purported inter- 
view of yours published in the Arkansas Democrat of 
May 27, 1896, relating to alleged irregularities in the 
issuance of certain Arkansas funding bonds. Although 
over twenty-five years have elapsed since the funding 
transactions occurred, your letter of April 24, 1896, con- 
veyed to me the first intimation of any such alleged 
irregularities. At the close of said letter the following 
language is used: 

" 'As this matter may be of interest to you individu- 
ally, I think it proper that you be made aware of the 
fact before publicity be given; so that if you have any 
means of accounting for this apparent discrepancy it may 
be done. I have no desire to wrong you or any one con- 
nected with this transaction.' 

"Although I did not ask or desire that any act of 
mine while Governor should be for a single moment con- 
cealed from the public, I think from the fair and manly 
expressions just quoted I was warranted in expecting, 
pending the conveyance by me of the information your let- 
ter seemed to invite, that you would confine your published 
expressions to established facts, so far as they reflected 
upon my action in the premises. After the receipt of 
your letter referred to I wrote you at two different tinies 
for more explicit information upon which to base my 
inquiry, to both of which you replied. Upon the receipt 
of your last letter (May 9, 1896) I proceeded to make 
inquiry in various directions and to hunt up and examine 
old documents that had slumbered peacefully for over 
a quarter of a century. On the 19th of May I wrote 
you reporting progress, as follows : 

" 'Replying to your letter of May 9, 1896, although 
a lapse of twenty-five years had dimmed my recollection 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 277 

of the funding transaction under my administration, from 
access to papers and documents, and from information 
from individuals connected therewith, the matter now be- 
gins to come back to me, and I think I shall be able in a 
short time to fix the responsibility of official irregulari- 
ties, if such exist, where they belong. I know that no 
such responsibility rests upon me, nor do I think upon 
any official under my administration. I am awaiting 
some information from Utah, New Mexico, New York, 
and other places. When received, I will communicate 
with you upon the subject.' 

"Certainly there was nothing in this letter to cause 
you to believe that the correspondence you had invited 
had closed between us, but upon the contrary, it indi- 
cated that I had nearly reached the time when I could 
'fix the responsibility of official irregularities, if such 
existed, where they belong.' This as I supposed was 
the information you desired. A short time after the 
receipt of this letter, for reasons of your own, you gave 
a public statement to the press in which you sent broad- 
cast many statements which I believe the facts when made 
known will not justify. Since your reported interview 
came into my hands I waited to see If you would disavow 
its authenticity, but as you have not done so, I conclude 
it correctly reports your language. 

"Lest you should have misunderstood my letter of 
May 18, 1896, as practically closing the correspondence 
between us, I write this to inform you that I shall in 
due time communicate to you and the public all the 
information I shall then possess concerning the issuance 
of the bonds in question. 

"In view of the injustice I believe your interview 
has done me, I trust you will not consider my action in 
giving this letter to the press inappropriate. My only 
object in so doing is that the public may know that I 
shall in due time give my version of the transactions in 
question." 



278 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

I received no answer to this letter and as I felt abso- 
lutely secure in the integrity and lawfulness of my posi- 
tion, and was unaffected in the least by Auditor Mills' 
oft-repeated threats of subjecting me to a suit, I con- 
cluded to let him wriggle out of his perplexities without 
help from me. The next heard from Auditor Mills on 
the subject is a Gazette interview of his, as follows: 

''august 2, 1896, BIG REDUCTION 

"auditor mills back from his debt-clearing trip 

''shaving of the staters outstanding indebtedness 

is the result 

"old bonds accounted for 

"State Auditor C. B. Mills returned yesterday morn- 
ing from New York, having carried out his mission of 
investigating the whereabouts of alleged illegal bonds 
carried on the books as part of the State's outstanding 
indebtedness. Auditor Mills says he went to New York 
assured that he would find seventy of these bonds. He 
found 64 of the ^6^ issue, and twenty-five good bonds of 
the '69 series, also six Holford bonds and a large amount 
of coupons. All except four of them had been deposited 
with the Union Trust Company by ex-Treasurer Henry 
Page in 1874, subject to the order of the treasurer of 
Arkansas. These bonds were all on deposit there when 
Governor Eagle and the State board had turned over 
to them in 1891 the ninety bonds funded by the United 
States Government. It was ascertained that the bonds 
were deposited by an attorney for Page. They have 
appeared from time to time in the official statements of 
the State's outstanding indebtedness. The State has paid 
out thirty of the alleged illegal bonds and will get back 
twenty-five valid bonds, and thus in the end the State 
will be out only about $10,000, the amount of five bonds 
paid. There will be a difference of $200,000 in the 
debt statement of Arkansas. The ferreting out of the 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 279 

invalid bonds makes a reduction in excess of that amount 
on the outstanding indebtedness. 

"Auditor Mills says that his investigations have failed 
to disclose that ex-Governor Powell Clayton was in 
anywise connected with the issuance of the bonds re- 
ferred to." ^^ 

I had long since learned that so far as I was con- 
cerned the amende honorable was not to be expected 
from any Democratic source. This admission, I suppose, 
was about as near as Auditor Mills dared to go. His pre- 
dicament was fully exposed by the following memoran- 
dum of the Union Trust Company, of New York, in an- 
swer to a letter from Eugene Lankford, Chairman of the 
Joint Committee of the two Houses of the Legislature, 
appointed to investigate the funding bonds : 

"February 19, 1901. 

"The Bonds of the State of Arkansas came into the 
possession of this Company as the financial agent of the 
State. 

"This Trust Company conducted the exchange of 
bonds until July 13, 1896, when at the written request 
of Governor Clark all bonds, books, coupons, etc., were 
delivered to Mr. Ransom Gully, State Treasurer, whose 
receipt we hold. 

"We were asked if the banking books show any of 
the transactions relating to the bonds of the State and 
answer that the books show all exchanges, but as they 
are in the possession of the State Officers we must refer 
you to them. 

"Answering the question if Mr. W. P. Denkla had 
any connection with the exchange of bonds, our reply 
was that our recollection is that some of the bonds were 
exchanged by W. P. Denkla, and if so, the books will 
show it. 

"In reply to the question. Why old bonds and bonds 



28o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

for which they were exchanged were both in the posses- 
sion of the Union Trust Company? They were placed in 
our possession in order to enable us to make the ex- 
change. This is also shown in the books of the State 
authorities. 

"Replying to the question, If this company acted as 
Exchange Agent for the State Funding Bonds, what 
duties it had to perform? It received the old bonds and 
delivered the new bonds. 

"We delivered all papers, books, etc., in regard to 
this transaction and are therefore unable to more fully 
describe the various transactions, but they are fully de- 
scribed in the books which we surrendered, and we feel 
sure if you will consult the funding book you will find 
all the information you desire." 

Thus Auditor Mills, after all his trouble, was forced 
to take a back seat, where he is likely to remain for 
the rest of his life. His charges were forever set at rest 
much to the disappointment of the Democrats, for they 
had long endeavored to fix some official rascality upon 
me and had hailed this opportunity with delight. 

It will certainly be evident to all fair-minded people 
that before Auditor Mills rushed into print with his false 
and malicious charges and threats to bring suit against 
me he should have exhausted every effort to ascertain the 
facts upon which he based such action. He should at 
least have examined carefully all official documents re- 
lating to the transaction. The message of a former 
Governor, charged with the funding of the debt, cer- 
tainly should have been considered an official document 
of the highest order, and should have received his first 
attention. If he had done that, he would not only have 
saved himself from subsequent retraction, but would 
have saved his party from the damaging disclosure that 
during fifteen years of administration it never had been 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 



281 



able to state within three-quarters of a million dollars 
the amount of the State's indebtedness. 

Without inquiring into the correctness of the figures 
upon which this newspaper account was based/^ it shows 
the incompetency of the Democratic party to keep the ac- 
counts of the State. It is a remarkable acknowledgment 
that the State debt was nearly three-quarters of a million 
less than had for so many years been reported by the 
Democracy and charged to the Republicans as a debt of 
their making. 



FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XII 

^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 375 
^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 376 
^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 376 
^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 377 
^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 379 
® Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 377 
■^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 383 
^Arkansas House Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 387 
^ Report of the accountants appointed under the Act of Janu- 
ary 15, 1855, to investigate the affairs of the Real Estate Bank of 
Arkansas, p. 25. 

^° Arkansas Senate Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 391. 
^^ Arkansas Laws, 1843, pp. 77-87. 
^^ Arkansas Senate Journal Appendix, 1856, p. 391. 
^^ Arkansas House Journal, 1868-1869, p. 22. 
^* Arkansas Laws, 1 868-1 869, pp. 11 5-1 18. 
^^ Constitution of the State of Arkansas, 1868, Article 6, Sec- 
tion 10. 

^•^ See pp. 259-260. 

^■^ Arkansas House Journal, 1871, p. 26. 

^^ Italics are mine. P. C. 

^^ See pp. 272-275. 



282 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER XIII 

WILLIAM M. FISHBACK, OR DEMOCRATIC PERVERSIONS OF 

HISTORY 

A description of the different roles in which William 
M. Fishback appeared on the political stage of Arkansas 
is perhaps timely. 

In 1857 he went from Virginia to Illinois, where he 
remained only one year. He then went to Sebastian 
County, Ark., and located at Greenwood, where he was 
so pronounced in his Union sentiments as to cause the 
Unionists of that County to send him as their delegate 
to the Secession Convention, which assembled at Little 
Rock, March 4, 1861, to determine the attitude of the 
State in the impending crisis, — that is, whether it should 
remain in the Union or join the Southern Confederacy. 

In that Convention, on the test vote for the presiding 
officer, the Unionists developed a majority of ten, and 
Mr. Fishback was among that number. However, when 
the Convention re-assembled on the 6th day of May, 
1 86 1, but one man voted in the negative ^ upon the adop- 
tion of the ordinance of Secession, His name was not W. 
M. Fishback, but Isaac Murphy, — the grand old patriot. 
Mr. Fishback voted with the Secessionists throughout 
the entire proceedings of the Convention. 

When the war actually began he went back to Illi- 
nois. Early in 1863 he returned to Arkansas. Not- 
withstanding the fact that he had never had any military 
experience, his first effort was to raise an Arkansas Union 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 283 

Regiment, of which he was to be the colonel. Failing 
in this, not long afterward he. engaged in a second ef- 
fort to raise a regiment, which was first known as the 
3d Arkansas Infantry, then as the 4th Arkansas In- 
fantry, and finally as the 4th Arkansas Cavalry.^ These 
efforts failed. 

In 1864 the Union men of Arkansas established the 
provisional "Murphy Government," ^ and he (being un- 
able to differentiate between such a government, the sole 
creature of the military, and the government of a co- 
ordinate State of the Union) at once aspired to the high- 
est position that he supposed was in its power to give, — 
a seat in the Senate of the United States. 

Apparently in order to obtain favor with the Union 
men that predominated in the Legislature, he delivered 
before that body a red-hot speech, denouncing the atroci- 
ties of the Confederate Government in Arkansas in the 
execution of its Conscription Act, and in its treatment of 
Union men generally. As editor of the Unconditional 
Union, a newspaper established by him and Judge Yon- 
ley about that time, he used its columns for similar ut- 
terances. From this paper, — February 19, 1864, — I 
quote as follows : 

"extract from MR. fishback's editorial, 'rally 

AROUND THE FLAG, BOYS' 

"For three years a devastating and consuming civil 
war has raged in our State which, like the Simoon, has 
withered and bhghted all that fell in its way. For three 
years the loyal men of this State have had no certain 
tenure of life or property; no home or abiding place, but 
mere aliens in the land of their birth, cast out and pro- 
scribed by a wicked, unpitying, and unrelenting rebel 
tyranny; a tyranny which delighted in blood, hungered 



284 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

and thirsted after the lives of the loyal people, and, in 
the consummation of its inhuman purposes and desires, 
arrived at a perfection in the art of torture and brutality 
that the thongs of India, though guided by the inspiration 
of the heathen goddess of murder, have failed to attain. 
"The Union men of Arkansas have been hunted 
through wilds and mountains with bloodhounds, urged 
forward by the minions of the Davis oligarchy, who were 
not less cruel and bloodthirsty than the irresponsible ani- 
mals whose actions they controlled. And when the vic- 
tim of the chase was overtaken he was forced into the 
rebel service or hanged upon the nearest tree, as the 
whim or caprice of his captors determined; and, being 
hung, his body was denied the rights of sepulchre and 
left suspended between heaven and earth, there to be- 
come food for the beasts of the forest and fowls of the 
air. And all this, too, because he was a Union man, and 
for no other reason." 

The result of the so-called Senatorial election was that 
Mr. Fishback and Elisha Baxter went to Washington with 
credentials from the "Murphy Government" upon which 
they expected to obtain seats in the United States Senate. 
In vain they knocked at the doors for admittance, and 
at length, disappointed and crestfallen, they returned to 
Arkansas. 

In the winter of 1865 the publication of the Uncon- 
ditional Union ended because of lack of patronage. Mr. 
Fishback previously had obtained a temporary appoint- 
ment at six dollars a day as Assistant Special Agent of 
the Treasury Department,* his duties being to take charge 
of confiscated and abandoned rebel property in Arkansas. 

After the close of the war Mr. Fishback awaited the 
trend of events. Because of his uncertain attitude, the 
Republicans did not select him as a delegate to the first 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 285 

Republican State Convention, which assembled at Little 
Rock, April 2, 1867. This caused him, later on, to 
turn a complete somersault, landing in the bosom of the 
Democratic party, which was composed of the same 
character of men as those he had so viciously assailed in 
his newspaper article reproduced on pages 283-284, and 
thenceforward he was found among them, out-Heroding 
Herod. 

In 1872 he was selected by that party to represent 
Sebastian County in the Legislature; in 1874 he was a 
member of the State Constitutional Convention, con- 
trolled by the Democratic party, which had just come 
into power; in 1876, 1878, and 1884 he was again the 
Democratic representative from Sebastian County in the 
Legislature, and in 1892 he became, for one term, the 
Democratic Governor of the State. 

This completes Mr. Fishback's history until he ap- 
peared upon the political stage as the champion of Demo- 
cratic repudiation of the State's financial obligations.^ 

MR. FISHBACK ON RECONSTRUCTION IN ARKANSAS 

In 1890 Mr. Fishback, conjointly with thirteen other 
Southern Democratic politicians, published and circulated 
far and wide, especially in the Northern States, a "copy- 
righted" book, entitled "Why the Solid South, or Re- 
construction and Its Results," ^ to which he contributed 
Chapter XI — "A Vivid Picture of the Carpet-bag Era 
in Arkansas." 

His preliminary remarks are disingenuous through- 
out. In view of the facts that I have thus far and I shall 
hereafter establish, they are so misleading as to cause 
me to reproduce them, as follows -J 

"Crimination and recrimination are as repugnant to 
good taste as they are to my own inclination. Between 



286 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

sections of a common country they are criminal. Under 
this conviction, and that all parts of our Republic might 
be fraternized and united in a combined effort to build 
up our great nationahty, the Southern statesmen have 
abstained from replying to the many slanders against 
the Southern people which have been widely circulated by 
Republican leaders until their unanswered reiteration has 
led to the belief that they are true, and has produced 
such widespread and deep-rooted prejudices among their 
less informed followers as to amount, in the judgment of 
thinking and patriotic men, to a serious danger to our 
institutions. 

"As evidenced by the character of the late Presiden- 
tial campaign in the North, that section is becoming as 
separate and antagonistic as if we were two distinct and 
hostile empires. 

"Surely this is to be deplored, and surely It becomes 
a public duty of Southern men who know the facts to 
disabuse the minds of the more candid of our fellow- 
citizens of the North; to let them see that the antagonism 
of the people of the South to the RepubHcan party is 
in no sense an antagonism to the Northern section of 
our common country; to show them that the conduct of 
this party in the South was such as not only to repel 
the patriotism and decency of the South, but was also 
such as should serve as a monumental warning to the 
American people against all attempts to seek party ad- 
vantage through illegitimate or doubtful legislative en- 
actment, 

"It is under this conviction of duty that I have con- 
sented to write this review of reconstruction in Arkansas. 

"Nor is there the slightest admixture of malice in 
anything I shall say. Accordingly, I shall not mention 
names except when absolutely necessary. I write not of 
persons, but of conditions, and methods, and outrages, 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 287 

which I could have hoped It might never be necessary to 
recall. 

"Indeed, many a man who participated in these out- 
rages, when surrounded by the temptations thrown around 
him by the then conditions, has become a respected and 
law-abiding citizen since he has been surrounded by the 
better influences of Democratic supremacy. I shall re- 
spect his present standing, holding myself ready, however, 
to furnish names upon any demand entitled to respect." 

The true sentiments of the party into which Mr. Fish- 
back fell headlong, when he turned his political coat, are 
in my opinion more candidly expressed in the following 
article from the Gazette, September 18, 1868: 

"political ostracism 

"In the article under the above caption the Camden 
Journal complains bitterly at the social ostracism pro- 
posed by some of our Democratic contemporaries to be 
exercised toward radicals, and asks with apparent inno- 
cence, 'What has the Repubhcan party done to merit this 
feeling?' This question would come with about as good 
grace from a highway-man when arraigned before the 
bar of justice after he had robbed a community of their 
property, despoiled their homes, outraged their women, 
beggared their children, and bound their men hand and 
foot while he perpetrated these hellish deeds. The ques- 
tion should rather be asked, 'What is it the Radical party 
has not done to make every decent Southern man hate, 
loathe, and abhor every single member of that party?' 
Possessed of power, with Federal bayonets at their com- 
mand to enforce every infamous scheme that malice could 
dictate or avarice suggest, they have perpetrated deeds 
of wrong, oppression, and insult against the downtrodden 



288 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

and helpless people of the South that would put to shame 
the most savage band of Comanche Indians that ever 
roamed the western plains. What have they done? Go 
to the squalid homes of those who once revelled in every 
luxury that heart could wish and hear their children beg 
for bread, and ask them who has done this? The sor- 
row-stricken mother, with tear-bedewed cheek and voice 
stifled by heartbroken sobs, will tell you, 'The Radical 
party.' Go to the once busy marts of trade and see the 
merchants, mechanics, and artisans lounging about their 
doors waiting for trade and work, and ask them what 
has caused this great change in the business aspect of 
their city, and they will tell you, 'The Radical party.' Go 
to the farmer, and ask him why his once blooming fields 
are lying in waste and uncultivated, and he will tell you, 
'Because of the ruinous policy of the Radical party.' Go 
to your treasuries, state and national, look into their 
empty vaults, and ask their keepers what has become of 
the gold which once lined them, and if they would tell 
you truly, they would say, 'Squandered by the Radical 
party.' Ask the head of the treasury department who 
created this mountain of debt under which the govern- 
ment now groans, and he will tell you, 'The Radical 
party.' Go to the polls, see the Illiterate and ignorant 
negroes jostling away our most worthy and intelligent 
white men, and ask who has done this, and the answer 
will be, 'The Radical party.' Go to that group of citi- 
zens standing on the corner of the street, with anxious 
countenances and 'whispering with white lips' of an an- 
ticipated riot with the negroes, and ask them why such 
fear, and they will tell you, 'The damnable teachings of 
the Radical party.' All these wrongs, aye! a thousand 
times more, have that party heaped upon the South, and 
yet they have the unblushing effrontery to ask us to treat 
them as friends and associates. As well take into our 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 289 

bosom the poisonous adder or into our houses a rabid dog 
as to cultivate terms of sociality and friendship with these 
vampires upon the body politic, — these despoilers of the 
rights and liberties of our people. It is too much to ask 
the Southern people to exercise the Godlike attribute of 
forgiveness toward a set of men who have perpetrated 
every wrong against them that cupidity or malice could 
invent." 

The allegations of Mr. Fishback throughout his en- 
tire article are vague, mendacious, and unsupported. I 
believe the reproduction of three of his statements will 
be sufficient to prove this assertion. On pages 316-317 
of his chapter he uses the following language: 

"When I Introduced to the Constitutional Convention 
of 1874 the resolution looking to repudiating the fraudu- 
lent bonds above described, a banker from New York 
or Boston, I forget which, was at Hot Springs, and re- 
marked to a distinguished citizen of the State : 'I have 
some of those bonds myself.' The gentleman asked him 
if he did not know how fraudulent they were, and that 
the people would not pay them. He replied: 'I don't 
think they ought to, but they only cost me fifteen cents 
on the dollar, and I believed the Republicans would hold 
this State for the next twenty-five years, and in that time 
I would get a dollar for my fifteen cents.' " 

Mr. Fishback does not state the banker's name, has 
forgotten his place of business, fails to mention the name 
of the distinguished gentleman to whom he was talking, 
has not specified the character of the bonds, whether 
Railroad or Holford; and, last hut not least, he does not 
say that the language attributed to the banker was spoken 
in his presence, and if not, from what source his infor- 
mation was obtained. 



290 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

Even if this statement were accepted without criti- 
cism, what bearing would it have upon the question of why 
the South is soUd, or what color would it give to his vivid 
picture? 

On pages 297-299 of his article he refers to the opera- 
tions of Martial Law, as follows: 

"Although Gen. C. H. Smith, U. S. A., commanding 
the district of Arkansas, wrote to his superior officer 
that there was no state of facts existing in Arkansas to 
warrant such a step, the Governor upon the flimsiest 
pretexts declared martial law in a number of counties 
where the people were most outspoken in their denuncia- 
tions of the government which had been thus foisted upon 
them without their consent. Negro militia marched and 
marauded and murdered at will through these counties. 

"I might fill page after page with their atrocities, but 
I forbear lest their detail stir up animosities which could 
do no good but were better suppressed. 

"They grew, however, to such enormity as to shock 
especially the 'old citizens,' who were members of the 
Legislature, and who were not fully into the secrets of 
the conspiracy between Congress and their carpet-bag 
representatives, as will be seen by the following general 
order: 

" 'Little Rock, December 4, 1868. 
" 'Brigadier-General Upham, 

" 'Commanding Dist. N. E. Ark. 

" 'General: I am instructed by the Governor to write 
you as follows : 

" 'Although the Legislature in the first part of the 
session fully indorsed the action of his excellency in de- 
claring martial law, and putting into active service the 
State Guards, it is apparent now that many of them are 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 291 

"weakening"; especially are the old citizens beginning to 
refuse that support which should be given the executive 
at this time. In order to prevent the growth of this 
feeling and to take advantage of this faction it is de- 
sirable that our military operations be pushed to an end 
within the next thirty days. All we can do now is to 
show the rebels that we can march the militia through 
any county in the State whenever it is necessary. Use 
every effort to catch the desperadoes in Woodruff, Craig- 
head, and Greene counties. 

" 'I hope you will end your operations in your sec- 
tion as soon as possible. You see we are likely not only 
to have to fight the rebels but the Legislature also. We 
don't propose to allow any advantage. I am, General, 
your obedient servant, 

" 'Keyes Danforth, Adjutant-General.' 

"In another order to Gen. S. W. Mallory, command- 
ing Southeast District of Arkansas, on the 25th day of 
December, 1868, the following sentence occurs, 'He,' the 
Governor, 'thinks you may safely execute many of them; 
it is absolutely necessary that some examples be made. 

" 'Private Secretary.' 

"It will be seen that he dare not sign his name to this 
carte blanche commission to murder." 

I neither dictated nor approved any such letters, and 
even if they were written and transmitted by Adjutant- 
General Danforth or my private secretary Barton, I do 
not hold myself responsible for indiscreet and unofficial 
expressions of subordinates. Any official correspondence 
over my own signature would be quite a different thing. 

It is a fact that at first General Smith was not in 
favor of my martial law policy. He had a plan of his 



292 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

own, which was to station detachments of the United 
States troops at the county seats of the various counties 
where the conditions were most disturbed. The follow- 
ing extract from the report * of General Porter to Gen- 
eral Grant shows that at a later period General Smith 
completely changed his views : 

"The entire Conservative wing of the Republican 
party was opposed to the declaration of martial law, in- 
cluding General Smith, United States Army, commanding 
the troops. They admitted the reign of terror estab- 
lished by the rebels, but wanted the United States troops 
to make the arrests. ... It has, however, accomplished 
much more than the most sanguine expected, and General 
Smith acknowledges that the Governor's policy was better 
than his, and that the result would fully justify the action 
of the former." 

I recall to the reader that the subject of martial law 
and its beneficial results have been already discussed in 
Chapter VI and Chapter VIII. 

To show Mr. Fishback's ignorance of the State Aid 
Law and his reckless misrepresentations, I shall briefly 
discuss his assertions on pages 309-310 of his article, 
headed "Fraudulent State Bonds," which are as follows: 

"Under a law since declared unconstitutional by our 
Supreme Court, bonds of the State were issued during 
Reconstruction to the amount of $5,350,000 to certain 
railroad companies, all in fraud of the law, even if it had 
been constitutional. From two to three times as much 
was issued to each road as the terms of the law allowed. 

"To the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad Company 
was issued $1,200,000, nearly three times as much as 
was allowed by the terms of the law. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 293 

"To the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans 
Railroad Company were issued: 

Railroad Aid Bonds $750,000 

Levee Bonds 320,000 

Chicot County Bonds 100,000 

This company built for all this only twelve miles of road, 
and then took up the iron to put it on other roads to 
draw bonds anew. 

"To the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River Rail- 
road Company .... were issued both railroad aid 
bonds and levee bonds and Chicot County Bonds, — all 
fraudulent. ... And every road that received them was 
so much crippled that its completion was delayed for 
years. The State not only did not receive any benefit 
but injury instead." 

With the exception of the total amount of bonds 
issued, mentioned by Mr. Fishback in the first paragraph, 
all these allegations are absolutely incorrect. As I issued 
and delivered the majority of the bonds in question, I 
shall depart from what is really required of me in order 
to show how unjustified are the assertions crowded into 
these four brief paragraphs. 

Not a single one of the bonds issued by me was in 
fraud of the law, but in strict conformity therewith; 
the receipts and other documentary evidences of which 
are in my possession and can, or should, be found where 
they were originally filed, in the proper Department of 
State. 

In the first and second paragraphs of his article Mr. 
Fishback clearly contradicts himself by stating that aU 
the bonds issued by the State were in fraud of the law, — 
therefore, illegally issued. Then he proceeds to say that 



294 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

the amount issued to each road, and to the Memphis and 
Little Rock road in particular, was from two to three 
times as much as the terms of the law allowed. This is 
an admission by Mr. Fishback that the law did provide 
for at least a part of the bonds issued to the various rail- 
roads. 

In paragraph three Mr. Fishback states that to the 
Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Com- 
pany was issued $750,000 in bonds. If he meant that 
this amount was issued by me, he is correct. However, 
when he said that for this amount only twelve miles of 
road were built he was either grossly ignorant of the 
facts or he misrepresented them. About seventeen years 
before his comments were published trains were running 
regularly from Chicot to Pine Bluff, a distance of seventy 
miles. 

This is substantiated by the fact that when this road 
and the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroad 
were consolidated in the fall of 1873, in order to comply 
with the provisions of the law as to certain preliminary 
proceedings, the stockholders and directors took a special 
train to the eastern terminus on the Mississippi River, 
where the domicile of the company was then maintained, 
and where we found the yellow fever raging so severely 
that we held a hasty meeting in one of the cars and re- 
turned to Pine Bluff that day by the same train. 

This allegation is further supported by the follow- 
ing extract from a letter from Mr. B. F. Bush,^ President 
of the Missouri, Pacific Railroad Company, of which 
the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans is now a 
part. He says: 

"At the time the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New 
Orleans Railroad and the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red 
River Railroad were consolidated in the ye^r 1873, under 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 295 

the name of the Little Rock, Mississippi River, and Texas 
Railroad Company, the former was constructed and in 
operation from Chicot to Pine Bluff, a distance of seventy 
miles. . . ." 

Surely these statements will not be questioned by any 
honest man conversant with the facts 

Now I come to his charge that the company "then 
took up the iron to put it on other roads to draw bonds 
anew." It must be evident to any intelligent person that 
a company would not go to the expense and trouble of 
laying rails on one road to obtain bonds, and afterward 
to the additional trouble and expense of taking up and 
re-laying them upon another road to obtain a new issue 
of bonds when the law does not contain a single word 
that can be construed as requiring the railroad companies 
to lay rails as a prerequisite for the receipt of bonds, 
but, on the contrary, it clearly shows that after the bonds 
are earned by the grading, bridging, and tying of ten 
consecutive miles of road, and are thereupon issued, "The 
bonds, or the avails thereof, shall be used for the sole 
purpose of providing for the ironing, equipping, com- 
pleting, or building of the said road." ^° 

When the "Swamp Democracy" saw the rails being 
taken up and shipped to another road and re-laid, they 
started this foolish yarn, which was taken up by the Ga- 
zette, July 29, 1 87 1, under the title of "The Grand 
Swindle," from which I quote as follows: 

"Imagine our surprise, therefore, when on the 17th 
Instant the locomotive with a train of cars and a num- 
ber of laborers arrived at the end of the track, and the 
work of taking up the iron was commenced, — the iron 
for which they have succeeded (I will not say with the 
connivance of the State authorities) in drawing from 



296 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

the public treasury of the State the sum of $750,000. 
Upon inquiry we were informed that the iron was to 
be taken up and laid on the Mississippi, Ouachita, and 
Red River Railroad, — possibly to draw another $750,- 
000 from the plethoric and overflowing coffers of the 
State." 

The facts in the case were that the Little Rock, Pine 
Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Company's line from 
Pine Bluff to the Mississippi River ran all the way through 
the bottom lands of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers, 
and the almost imperceptible grade admitted of light mo- 
tive power; hence lighter rails were used than were re- 
quired on the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River Rail- 
road, where in places the grades were considerable. The 
two roads had in New Orleans a joint agent, who had 
purchased and erroneously consigned the rails in question 
to the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad, 
upon which they were laid. It was only to correct this 
error that the rails were taken up and delivered to the 
company to which they belonged, and the proper rails 
substituted. 

That story was used for all it was worth, and its cir- 
culation was persisted in for years after its thorough and 
complete refutation. And Mr. Fishback, the historian 
(?), rehashed it, when any investigation of the law 
would have disclosed its untruthfulness. 

That the reader may understand the falsity of his 
charge in paragraph four, — that certain levee bonds were 
"fraudulently" issued to the Mississippi, Ouachita, and 
Red River Railroad Company, — I quote from the law 
relating thereto, which fully authorized such action : 

"Any railroad company that shall construct a road- 
bed through any portion of this State which shall answer 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 297 

the purpose of a levee for the protection of any lands 
of the State from overflow, or shall cause the draining 
of the same by any continuous line of ditches, shall be 
entitled to receive an amount of the warrants of the Audi- 
tor, authorized to be issued by this act, equal in amount 
to the expense of protecting the same lands from over- 
flow by levees or drains made by the State, which amount 
shall be determined by the Commissioner of public works 
and internal improvements. . . ." ^^ 

As to the Chicot County Bonds mentioned by him, 
they, like others of a similar character, were issued under 
the provisions of the following act: 

"The Board of Supervisors of any county is au- 
thorized and empowered to issue bonds of such county 
in any sum necessary, not greater than ten per cent, in- 
clusive of all other bonded indebtedness of the assessed 
value of the taxable property of said county, for the 
purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, or 
other works of internal improvement." ^^ 

Therefore this power was lawfully exercised by the 
county authorities. 

His statement that "every road receiving State Aid 
was so crippled that its completion was delayed for years 
and that the State received only injury instead of benefit" 
is erroneous in each respect. On the contrary, it gave 
enormous impetus to the construction of railroads, re- 
sulting in the building by State Aid alone of 445 miles 
of road in five years, while it took the Democrats, after 
they came into power, with all their resources, eight years 
to build as many miles. 



298 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

MR. FISHBACK's charge OF "CARPET-BAGGERS" IN 
ARKANSAS 

Mr. Fishback in the caption of his article charac- 
terized the Repubhcan Rule in Arkansas as the "Carpet- 
Bag Era," and throughout his article in speaking of the 
Government and its officers he frequently used the ex- 
pression "carpet-bag" and "carpet-bagger." From the 
Century Dictionary I quote the following definition of 
the word "carpet-bagger" : 

"An opprobrious term applying properly to the class 
of adventurers who took advantage of the disorganized 
condition of the poHtical affairs in the early years of 
reconstruction to gain control of the public offices and to 
use their influence over the negro voters for their own 
selfish ends." 

I believe that this applies more nearly to the Ar- 
kansas conditions than the definitions given by any other 
dictionary, and therefore I shall adopt it as the basis for 
my discussion of the question. 

The names of the officers who composed the so- 
called "Carpet-Bag Government" were obtained from the 
report of the Secretary of State, Ark., 1907-8 1^^ and 
I procured additional reliable data concerning them by 
extensive correspondence with old citizens of the counties 
or localities where they served. I have been careful 
to exclude all information that I did not consider suf- 
ficiently definite, and the results are presented in the fol- 
lowing general statements: 

EXECUTIVE STATE OFFICERS 

Governor. — Powell Clayton. When mustered out of 
the United States Army in 1865 he married one of Ar- 
kansas' daughters, — a young lady of Confederate par- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 299 

entage, — and immediately thereafter purchased and set- 
tled on one of the largest plantations on the Arkansas 
River, having, — with his brother W. H. H. Clayton (who 
invested $5,000 in the venture), — paid therefor over 
$53,000 in cash. He continuously resided upon this plan- 
tation until ill treatment by his ex-Confederate neigh- 
bors became so pronounced as to cause him to take a po- 
litical stand for the preservation of his life and property. 

Lieutenant-Governor. — James M. Johnson was a na- 
tive of Virginia, and he came from that State to Arkansas 
in 1836. When elected to office he was a physician prac- 
tising medicine in Madison County, Ark. 

Secretary of State. — Robert J. T. White came to Ar- 
kansas from Virginia several years before the civil war. 

Auditor of State. — James R. Berry was a native of 
Alabama, and he settled in Arkansas In the year 1841. 

Treasurer. — Henry Page was an officer in the Union 
Army. He came to Arkansas during the civil war. When 
he was mustered out he decided to remain, and as early 
as 1866 he was engaged in the culture of cotton. 

Attorney-General. — John R. Montgomery was a 
Northern man, and he settled in Arkansas at the close of 
the civil war. 

Commissioner of Immigration and State Lands. — Dr. 
James M. Lewis came to Arkansas from Massachusetts 
as an Army officer; when mustered out he settled at Lit- 
tle Rock, engaged in the practice of his profession, and 
in 1870 was reported as being engaged in the building 
of a fine residence In Little Rock for his own use.^* 

Superintendent of Public Instruction. — Thomas Smith 
was a Northern man; he settled in Arkansas at the close 
of the war. I have no other reliable information con- 
cerning his settlement In the State. 



300 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CIRCUIT SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

I remind the reader that in Chapter X it is abundantly 
shown that the native Arkansan was entirely deficient in 
the qualities necessary to organize and manage the school 
interests of the State; hence, in the selection of these of- 
ficers I regarded efficiency and experience as outweigh- 
ing all other considerations. The result was that a ma- 
jority of them were Northern men, from such States 
as were renowned for the excellence of their public school 
systems. 

Seven of the ten Circuit Superintendents were from' 
the Northern States, but they had, however, settled in 
Arkansas prior to the enactment of the Reconstruction 
Measures. Of the other three. Major Chrisman had 
served throughout the war as an officer in the Confeder- 
ate Army. E. E. Henderson's nativity I am unable to 
state, but he settled in Arkansas the last year of the war 
and engaged in the real estate business. Rev. W. H. 
Gillam was a native of Arkansas. 



THE JUDICIARY 

W. W. Wilshire, Chief Justice, a native of Illinois, 
came to Arkansas as an officer in the Federal Army, and 
at the close of the war settled in Little Rock, where in 
partnership with Judge English he engaged in the prac- 
tice of law. 

Associate Justice. — Thomas M. Bowen came from 
Iowa to Arkansas as the Colonel of a Federal regiment. 
During the last year of the war he retired from the 
service, married the daughter of a prominent Southern 
man of Van Buren, Ark., and engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 301 

Associate Justice. — Lafayette Gregg was a native of 
Alabama and settled in Arkansas in 1835. 

Associate Justice. — W. M. Harrison was a native of 
the State of Maryland; he came to Arkansas and lo- 
cated there in 1840. 

Associate Justice. — John McClure was a native of 
Ohio. In partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. 
Rice, then a Congressman from one of the Ohio Districts, 
he rented a large plantation on the Arkansas River in 
1866, and engaged in the cultivation of cotton. Later he 
moved to Little Rock and purchased the home in which 
he has continued to reside until the present time. 

Chancellor of Pulaski Chancery Court. — T. D. W. 
Yonley's nativity I do not know. However, he settled 
in Arkansas in 1859 and engaged in the practice of law. 

Solicitor-General. — M. W. Benjamin was the Adju- 
tant of my old regiment, the 5th Kansas Cavalry. That 
regiment's term of service having expired before the 
close of the war, he was mustered out, then he located 
in Little Rock, and in partnership with his brother-in- 
law, B. F. Rice, engaged in the practice of law. 

The large brick building nearly opposite the State 
House, known as the Benjamin Block, was built by him. 
He also built and owned a very handsome residence in 
the western part of the city — a residence which he occu- 
pied until his death, and which was the home of his fam- 
ily thereafter. 

Before the war he was a citizen of Iowa, but the 
State of his nativity I do not remember. 

JUDGES OF THE CIRCUIT COURT 

Of the ten Circuit Judges six were originally from 
the North, but all settled in Arkansas before or at the 
close of the civil war. E. D. Ham's nativity is unknown 



302 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

to me, but he settled in Arkansas before the civil war. 
The remaining three were natives of the South and all 
settled in Arkansas between the years 1850 and 1852. 



PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS 

Four of the Prosecuting Attorneys were natives of 
the South, and one of them. Gen. E. W. Gantt, was at 
the close of the war a Brigadier-General in the Con- 
federate Army. The other three either came to Arkansas 
prior to or during the civil war. The nativity and set- 
tlement in the State of N. J. Temple, J. R. Page, C. B. 
Fitzpatrick, and D. D. Leach I have been unable defi- 
nitely to ascertain, but they all located in the State prior 
to the passage of the Reconstruction Measures of Con- 
gress. J. McL. Barton was a native of Maine, and he 
settled in Pine Bluff in 1867. W. A. Inman was a native 
of Indiana. I am not able to give the date of his settle- 
ment in the State except that it was prior to the enact- 
ment of the Reconstruction Measures. 

THE SEVENTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

The first General Assembly that convened after the 
passage of the Reconstruction Measures was composed 
of 104 members, — 24 in the Senate and 80 in the House 
of Representatives. The Little Rock Gazette, of April 
4, 1868, makes the following statement relative to the 
Senate: "One negro, a large number of Southern men, 
and a few Northern men compose the Senate." 

For information relative to the House of Representa- 
tives, I give the following account from the Little Rock 
Republican, of July 16, 1868, the correctness of which 
has never been questioned: 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 303 



CARPET-BAGGER 

"In looking over the Roster of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, it occurred to us to apply a few 
figures to see how far the charge of 'Carpet-bagger' would 
be sustained thereby. A stranger in the country reading 
the Gazette alone would infer that the legislature was 
made up of a swarm of Yankees who had come down 
here crowding the 'decency,' respectability, and intelli- 
gence of the State to one side, took possession of the 
Government and were running the same without regard 
to the feelings of the aforesaid 'respectability,' 'decency,' 
etc. The roster before us contains the names of eighty 
members [the entire body] of the House of Representa- 
tives, with their nativity. Kentucky, 7 ; Ohio, 5 ; Mis- 
souri, 2; South Carolina, 2; New York, 3; Arkansas, 4; 
Tennessee, 20; Indiana, 6; Virginia, i ; New Hampshire, 
i; Georgia, 5; Pennsylvania, 4; Louisiana, i; District 
of Columbia, i ; Illinois, 3 ; North Carolina, 3 ; Alabama, 
3 ; Vermont, 2 ; Massachusetts, 2 ; Michigan, i ; Eng- 
land, i; Canada, i; Germany, i. Occupations, — Law- 
yers, 6 ; Physicians, 7 ; Editors, i ; Farmers, 42 ; Mer- 
chants, 8 ; Ministers, 2 ; Saddlers, i ; Civil Engineers, i ; 
Machinists, i; Blacksmiths, i; Miscellaneous, 10. 

"Members from the Southern States, 48; Members 
from the Northern States, 27; Members from District 
of Columbia, i ; Members from foreign countries, 3 ; 
showing almost two-thirds of the House natives of the 
Southern States. The average residence in the State is 
twelve years. What now becomes of the Gazette's, and 
other pro-rebel luminaries', charge of 'carpet-bagger,' as 
applied to the members of the present Legislature! 
Rather venerable 'carpet-baggers' it occurs to us." 



304 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



THE EIGHTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

In the Senate of the i8th Legislature, which convened 
January 2, 1871, there were twelve members who had 
held over, and, with the exception of two negro mem- 
bers instead of one, it was practically of the same po- 
litical complexion as that given by the Gazette for the 
preceding Legislature. 

The composition of the Lower House of the i8th 
Legislature, with its addition of nineteen Democratic 
members, no one of whom Mr. Fishback would charac- 
terize as a "carpet-bagger," goes to prove my assertions. 



COUNTY OFFICERS 

I now present an abstract showing the nativity of the 
officers in the sixty counties of the State, based upon such 
correct information as I have been able to obtain. The 
names of all these officers can be found in the Report 
of the Secretary of State, Ark., 1907-8.^^ They were 
elected for a term of four years, but in some instances 
they served only two years, and were replaced by of- 
ficers who served the remainder of their terms, which 
accounts for there being a larger number of officers than 
there were counties. 

JUDGES 

Of the 64 county Judges, 15 were natives of Arkan- 
sas; 9 came to the State in childhood, 16 came prior to 
the civil war, 2 during the war, 6 immediately there- 
after, and 2 in 1867. As to the remaining 12, I have 
been unable to get reliable data, but 6 were from Demo- 
cratic counties and 6 from Republican. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 305 

CLERKS 

Of the 67 county Clerks, 16 were natives of Arkansad 
5 came to the State in childhood, 13 came prior to tho 
civil war, 6 during the war, 9 immediately thereafter, 
and 6 in 1867. Concerning the remaining 10 I have not 
been able to ascertain, but 6 were from Democratic and 
4 from Republican Counties. 

SHERIFFS 

Of the 67 county Sheriffs, 20 were natives of Ar- 
kansas, 7 came to the State in childhood, 14 came prior 
to the civil war, 2 during the war, 6 immediately there- 
after, and 3 in 1867. As to the remaining 13 I have 
not been able to procure reliable information. However, 
8 were from Democratic and 5 from Republican Counties.' 

TREASURERS 

Of the 64 county Treasurers, 17 were natives of Ar- 
kansas, 12 came to the State in childhood, 13 came prior 
to the civil war, 3 during the war, i immediately there- 
after, and I in 1867. As to the remaining 15 I have no 
reliable information except that 9 were from Democratic 
and 6 from Republican Counties. 

From the counties of Lafayette and Van Buren I have 
been unable to obtain reliable information concerning any 
of the county officers. The majority of the counties in 
which I am lacking in full information were Democratic, 
but it is not supposed that Mr. Fishback had in mind 
the officers of such counties when he spoke of "carpet- 
baggers." 



3o6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

I would have the reader keep constantly in mind that 
he Democrats completely controlled the State Govern- 
lent from 1866 until the State Constitution was adopted 
jnder the Reconstruction Measures in 1868, a period of 
two years. Therefore the few officers above mentioned 
who came to the State as late as 1867 did so when the 
Democrats were in full power, and before the officers to 
be elected or appointed, together with their salaries and 
emoluments, had been fixed by the State Constitution. 

With a very few exceptions, the Northern men who 
settled in Arkansas came there with the Federal Army, 
and during the period of their services in the State were 
so much impressed with its genial climate and great nat- 
ural resources as to cause them, when mustered out of 
the army, to make it their future home. 

A number, like myself and my brother William, had 
contracted matrimonial ties. 

Many of them had been away from home so long as 
practically to have lost their identity in the States upon 
the muster rolls of which their names were carried. 
These were the reasons that influenced their settlement in 
Arkansas at the close of the war rather than the existence 
then of any political expectations. 

Perhaps the reader will think that I have devoted too 
much time to the refutation of a single person's asser- 
tions, but it should be understood that it is not only Mr. 
Fishback I am answering, but also the entire Democratic 
party, for which he was spokesman. 

The things here discussed and many others of a simi- 
lar character have been told by the Democrats and so 
drilled into the masses of Arkansas that, in spite of their 
absolute falseness, many persons have come to believe 
them to be true. 



I 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 



307 



THE SCARECROW OF NEGRO DOMINATION 

From the following sample of the tabular form used 
in obtaining the foregoing information, it will be seen 
that it also requested the names of the colored county 
officials, if there were any. This illustration of the re- 
plies received gives the county officers of Pulaski, the 
Capital County of the State, and was furnished by Hon. 
H. L. Remmel, member of the Republican National Com- 
mittee, and Chairman of the State Central Committee. 



Name 


Office 


White 
or Black 


Nativity or Date 
of Immigration 




Politics 


Length of 
Service 


David Reeve 

G. McDiarmid 
W. S. Oliver 
John Reigler 


Co. Judge 

Co. Clerk 
Sheriff 
Co. Treas. 


White 

White 
White 
White 


( Michigan ) 
f 1863 [ 

1865 

1865 
Old Citizen 


Republican 

RepubHcan 
Republican 
RepubKcan 


1868-1872 

I 868-187 2 
1868-1874 
1868-1874 



(Signed) H. L. Remmel. 

Although Mr. Fishback does not mention Negro 
Domination in his publication, — or perhaps, more prop- 
erly speaking, negro balance of power, — the Gazette and 
other publications exhibited this scarecrow to the best 
advantage for their purposes. From the information ob- 
tained from the circulars sent out, and from other sources, 
it developed that two negro members of the Senate and 
about a half dozen of the House were all the negro office- 
holders in the State, except a few below the rank of 
County Judge, County Clerk, Sheriff, and Treasurer. 

When you remember that the Census of 1870 shows 
that the ratio of the negro population in Arkansas was 
only twenty-five per cent, of the entire population, it will 
be seen how groundless the charges were of threatened 
negro domination, and when you consider how utterly 



3o8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

helpless the negro population was as to educational fa- 
cilities, labor conditions, money, and arms, and espe- 
cially when you consider the terribly repressive efforts 
of the Ku Klux nightriders, it is not saying much for the 
chivalry of Arkansas to talk of Negro Domination 1 

To show the real purposes of the Ku Klux Democracy, 
I quote the following from the Gazette, of August 8, 
1868: 

" . . . . Things have come to such a pass that it be- 
hooves the white people of the country to consider reso- 
lutely how the danger which threatens them is to be 
met, and it is not out of place to recommend to the ne- 
groes the consideration of their perilous situation, if they 
continue to act upon the counsels of their wicked advisers. 
In this connection we cannot say anything more to the 
point than to adopt and re-publish the following extract 
from an article in the Richmond Inquirer: 

" 'Are we then indeed to have a war of races? Then 
let us prepare for it! We sound the note of warning 
to the people and bid them be on the alert. Preparation 
may be prevention, but if in spite of preparation the con- 
flict be precipitated upon us, it can have but one conclu- 
sion. The negro element in the South is like a gangrene 
upon the body politic, and the first drop of blood shed 
in a servile war will be the signal for the extermination 
of the whole race. The white men of the Southern States 
will not always permit their land to be the scene of the 
successive depredations of Yankee bummers, carpet-bag- 
gers, and truculent negroes, and they must some day be 
relieved of the horrible ills which for years they have 
patiently borne. . . . 

" 'The South wants peace, and if it is now to be re- 
quired to wade through a sea of blood to reach it, the 
sooner commenced the sooner ended,' " 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 309 

In other words, the Democrats used this unsupported 
charge of Negro Domination, for all it was worth, to play 
upon the timidity and helplessness of the negroes by 
threats of extermination, and to justify their extreme Ku 
Klux outrages upon them. I hope the reader will not 
lose sight of the fact that this article from the Gazette 
was pubHshed in the midst of the very exciting and bloody 
presidential campaign of 1868, and was clearly intended 
so to terrify the negro voters as either to cause them to 
remain at home on election day or to vote the Democratic 
ticket. 

The information I have set forth as to the negro 
office-holders in the State is corroborated by a speech de- 
livered by a prominent colored Democratic orator, of 
which the Gazette, in its issue of September 27, 1868, 
gives the following report: 

"the speaking 

"As we announced in Saturday's issue, John F. Har- 
ris, of Tennessee, the colored orator, who has recently 
been making a tour through the northeastern part of the 
State, where he has been doing good work for the 
Democracy, addressed a crowd of about 2,000 people, — 
white and colored, — in front of Theatre Hall, on Friday 
night. . . . 

"He reverted to the fact that not a single colored 
man had been appointed to any office of honor, trust, and 
profit in the State. . . ." 

The fact is that the negroes generally were not clam- 
oring for offices. They only wished to be unmolested, 
and they were always for peace. This is shown from 
the following facts : When the Democrats came into 
power in 1874 there were eight counties along the Mis- 



310 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

sissippi River, — where the large plantations were located, 
— in which the negro population was largely in the ma- 
jority. In those counties it would have been possible to 
elect a large percentage of negroes to office. But this 
would have seemed to justify the Democratic charge of 
negro domination and would have furnished them an 
excuse for Ku Klux depredations. Therefore it was con- 
sidered more desirable to enter into a compromise. 

The plan was to have the Republicans and Demo- 
crats hold their Conventions on the same day and each 
appoint a committee of conference to nominate a ticket 
which would divide the county offices equally between the 
two parties, and over which there would be no contest. 

I was visiting my brother John on my plantation 
when the question was brought up, and I advised him to 
adopt the plan. The Democrats gladly agreed to the 
compromise, and it was applied to all the negro counties, 
except perhaps Phillips. 

This agreement was honorably kept by the negroes, 
and because of the existence of the Enforcement Act, 
which protected the negroes in their rights, it was also 
kept by the Democrats. 

But the day came when, through some evil influence, 
this Enforcement Act was repealed by Congress. Did 
the Democrats continue to respect the agreement that 
during all these years had been unbroken by the negroes? 
To their discredit, they did not! With one accord, re- 
gardless of every consideration of honor, they seized 
every office in sight. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XIII 

^ Publications of the Arkansas Historical Association, Vol. I, 

p. 319- 

^ Information was obtained from the War Department, 
Washington, D. C. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 311 

^ Described in Chapter II. 

^ Letter in my possession from Treasury Department, Wash- 
ington, D. C, under date of March 17, 1914. 

^ See pp. 358-360. 

" On file in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 

^ See "Why the Solid South, or Reconstruction and Its Re- 
sults," Chapter XI, Arkansas, pp. 294-295. 

^ Published in Memphis Evening Post, January 8, 1869. 

® Dated June 3, 1913. 

^"Arkansas Laws, 1868, p. 151, Sec. 6. 

^^ Arkansas Digest of Statutes, Gantts, p. 736, Sec. 4053. 

^^ Arkansas Digest of Statutes, Gantts, p. 250, Sec. 707. 

^^ Pp. 97-112, inclusive. 

" See p. 198. 

^^ Pp. 298-302, inclusive. 



312 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 



CHAPTER XIV 

MY OCTOBER SPEECH 

From the speech referred to, delivered by me on Oc- 
tober 15, 1869, ^J^d published In the Gazette, October 
17, of that year, I give the following extract: 

" . . . . The suffrage question Is one that justly ex- 
cites the attention of all Republicans. In my opinion, 
there Is but one way to dispose of It, and that Is for the 
party which conquered the rebellion, the party which 
magnanimously forgave the enemies of the Government 
and restored to them every lost privilege, — with the ex- 
ception of the elective franchise, which has thus far been 
withheld from the leaders of the rebellion, — should now 
be prepared to take steps In a Constitutional way to re- 
store to them this lost privilege, and thus set at rest for- 
ever this vexed question. I hope you will bear In mind 
that, under the wise provisions of our Constitution, this 
cannot be hastily accomplished. If we should conclude 
to proceed now In that direction It would be years be- 
fore It could be consummated. 

"The qualified electors, under the [State] Constitu- 
tion, must twice give their consent through their repre- 
sentatives, and once directly at the polls, before any 
amendment to the Constitution can become a part of the 
organic law. So, you see, the whole question will be 
finally In the hands of the people. Therefore, can any- 
one say that It Is unsafe to move In this matter? I know 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 313 

that in announcing my views upon this question I am liable 
to be misunderstood by persons who jump at conclu- 
sions, and to be misrepresented by others who are actu- 
ated by selfish desires and unreasonable prejudices. To 
all such I say that time will show who are the true friends 
of the RepubHcan party. It may be said that I have 
changed my views upon this question, but this is not so, 
for I have always maintained that disfranchisement was 
a temporary expedient, only to be resorted to while the 
necessity existed. 

"Judge Wilshire will bear me out in this assertion, 
that when he and I made the first Republican canvass 
that was made in this State we both proclaimed and ad- 
vocated the necessity of disfranchisement, but only as a 
temporary means of establishing a loyal State Govern- 
ment, pledging ourselves to the people that so soon as the 
necessity ceased to exist we would use our influence in 
the Republican party to remove all disqualifications. I 
believe the time has come when we should make good 
our pledges, for a loyal Government has been estab- 
lished, and, notwithstanding the trials it has passed 
through, it has fully demonstrated its power to maintain 
itself. To-day its authority is respected throughout the 
length and breadth of the State. Peace, quiet, and se- 
curity reign everywhere. Should this state of affairs con- 
tinue, I shall recommend to the next general assembly a 
proposed amendment to the Constitution in relation to the 
elective franchise, which I trust will result in a perma- 
nent and lasting peace, and in the establishment of that 
cardinal principle of Republicanism that all men are equal 
before the law and endowed with the same rights, privi- 
leges, and immunities. . . ." 

This speech at first produced a great sensation In all 
political circles in Arkansas. Looking back through a 



314 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

vista of about forty-four years, I can now plainly see 
that its delivery, though actuated by conciliatory consid- 
erations, was politically unavailing. It afterward became 
absolutely demonstrated that the ears of the Arkansas 
Democracy were completely sealed against any amelio- 
rating overtures upon my part. This, I think, will be 
very evident when the following extract from the Ga- 
zette, of October 9, 1868, is read: 

"At best the most important duty we have now to 
perform is to secure good government and turn the 
money-changers out of the temple. Before that is ac- 
complished it is idle to attempt to foster the arts of peace. 
It is hence that matters pertaining to improvements and 
the development of the financial interests of our people 
have been accorded little space in our columns." 

This shows very clearly that it was the Democratic 
policy to retard the progress of the Republican adminis- 
tration by every means within its power, and that all must 
remain in abeyance until the old regime could get into the 
saddle again. 

The Democrats regarded the speech as a bid from me 
for their party support in the forthcoming Senatorial elec- 
tion. While it was utterly unavailing with them, it proved 
to be a fresh supply of ammunition to the administration 
dissenters, for as is true of all political parties ours con- 
tained the following classes: Those who, upon a false 
estimate of their greatness, become self-appointed leaders; 
others who had been disappointed in their aspirations for 
positions they were not quahfied to fill; and still others 
who were chronic faultfinders. These men had already 
been looking around for some other camp than mine in 
which to pitch their tents. 

The faction that represented the most radical wing 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 315 

of the Republican party in Arkansas, with Joseph Brooks 
at its head, had shown evidences of discontent for some 
time. Now, through him as its leader, the amendment 
proposed by me was openly and vehemently attacked. 

Although I plainly stated the process through which 
the amendment would have to pass and the time which 
must elapse before it could become effective, the Demo- 
cratic party fully expected that the probable turmoil in 
my owii party, assisted by them, would grow so strong 
as to cause me, — like Senter, of Tennessee; Walker, of 
Virginia, and Gratz Brown, of Missouri, — finally to fall 
headlong into their arms. 

The speech at first created much alarm among the 
Republicans, as they supposed it meant my election to and 
acceptance of a seat in the United States Senate, leaving 
Lieutenant-Governor Johnson as my successor. Having 
resolved that under no circumstances would I vacate the 
Executive Chair, if followed by such results, I freely 
gave my solemn assurances to that effect, which were 
generally accepted by my party friends. 

Having given this assurance to my friend. General 
Catterson, which he rejected in terms that I considered 
a reflection upon my veracity, in a moment of unguarded 
passion I struck him. He did not return the blow and 
the moment after I left him I would have given a great 
deal to recall it, and I have always regretted it. Of 
course the result was that he joined my political enemies, 
and, as Marshal of the Eastern District of Arkansas, to 
say nothing of his great party reputation growing out of 
the Ku Klux War, the loss of his friendship was almost 
irreparable. I thank God that many years ago we re- 
sumed our friendly relations. 

Although at first my speech gave the Democrats great 
satisfaction, afterward, when it was known that I had 
openly proclaimed that I would not accept the Senator- 



3i6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ship if it resulted in placing Lieutenant-Governor John- 
son in the Chair, they charged me with breach of faith, 
which was not true, as I had at no time, either by word 
or inference, given them to understand that I would 
pursue any other course than that proclaimed in my Oc- 
tober speech. Notwithstanding this false charge, when 
the Senatorial election occurred I received ninety-four 
votes, ^ which included all but six of the Democratic mem- 
bers in both Houses. Doubtless they hoped that as the 
breach between the Brooks faction and myself grew wider 
the situation would lead me to accept the Senatorship, 
In view of the difficulties of Registration,^ supple- 
mented by the promise made by me in my October speech, 
I sent to the Legislature on January 4, 1871, the follow- 
ing message:^ 

" . . . . To so much of Article VIII as imposes po- 
litical disabilities upon a portion of that class of our citi- 
zens that participated in the late rebellion I hope no one 
will understand that I am disposed to doubt the wisdom 
of the Constitutional Convention in their action respecting 
the elective franchise. On the contrary, I regard it as 
having been absolutely demanded by the exigencies of the 
times, and necessary to the establishment and main- 
tenance of a State Government in harmony with the Gen- 
eral Government, against which the people of the State 
had lately exercised all their powers of resistance. 

"In a healthy condition of the body politic, when all 
its members act in harmony, to apply disfranchisement 
for political purposes would be in violation of the prin- 
ciples of pure Republicanism. It was only the unhealthy 
condition that characterized it at the time our Consti- 
tution was framed that justified such otherwise harsh and 
extreme measures. The surgeon will not hesitate to ap- 
ply caustic to the most sensitive wound, if its unsound 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 317 

condition demands it; but to continue the application 
after the necessity ceases to exist will defeat the original 
intention and only tend to keep up an irritating and fes- 
tering sore. 

"I have always regarded disfranchisement as tem- 
porary in its nature, and have anxiously looked forward 
to the day when a sounder and healthier condition would 
justify its removal. More than one year ago [in my 
October speech, 1869] I took occasion publicly to ex- 
press myself on this question. I then foreshadowed the 
course that I would pursue, provided the then peaceful 
and healthy condition of affairs in the State should con- 
tinue, and give evidences of permanency. The time that 
has intervened has only strengthened the convictions I 
then expressed, and I am now most happy to say that 
the present encouraging condition of affairs throughout 
the State in my opinion fully warrants me in carrying 
out the pledge I then made. I therefore invoke your 
careful and dispassionate consideration of this important 
question, and earnestly recommend that you take the 
necessary steps by proposing an amendment to the Con- 
stitution, whereby the people may finally determine 
whether or not these disfranchising measures shall con- 
tinue as they are, or cease to exist. 

"Should you adopt this course, I earnestly hope and 
believe that you will take the initial step that will ulti- 
mately lead to permanent political tranquillity and to the 
restoration of those relations of comity and good feel- 
ing that should characterize citizens of the same common- 
wealth. 

"I would also call your attention to the provisions 
of the Constitution by which the disabilities may be re- 
moved from many individuals by a two-thirds vote of the 
General Assembly, and I recommend that your honorable 



3i8 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

body take such action in all meritorious cases that may 
be brought before you." 

The action of the Legislature in both Houses fully 
sustained my course — the vote in the Senate on the amend- 
ment being affirmative, i8 ; negative, 6 ;^ and in the House 
of Representatives, affirmative, 65; negative, 3.^ This 
amendment having passed through the successive stages 
required by the Constitution, and having been ratified by 
the people by a large majority, became what was known 
as Article VIII of the State Constitution. So, this Con- 
stitutional disfranchising provision, which originated with 
the Republicans, was by them repealed, a fact not gener- 
ally understood by the Arkansas Democracy. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XIV 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, p 75. Arkansas Senate Jour- 
nal, 1 87 1, p. 44- 

^ Described in Chapter IV. 
^ Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 35-36. 
* Arkansas Senate Journal, 1871, pp. 83-84. 
^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 617-619. 



II 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 319 



CHAPTER XV 

THE IMPEACHMENT 

On February 16, 1871, when neither I nor any of 
my friends had the least suspicion of what was coming, 
the following resolution was introduced by Representa- 
tive W. B. Padgett in the lower House of the Arkansas 
Legislature : ^ 

"Whereas, Powell Clayton, Governor of the State 
of Arkansas, has been guilty of malfeasance in office 
and high crimes and misdemeanors, in this: 

"First. That he has conspired with the members of 
the Supreme Court of the State of Arkansas to ma- 
liciously and unlawfully deprive Lieutenant-Governor 
James M. Johnson of his said office of Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, to which he was duly and lawfully elected by the 
people of the State of Arkansas, and for which he quali- 
fied, according to the constitution and laws of said State. 

"Second. That he has unlawfully removed an of- 
ficer of the county of Clark, In said State of Arkansas, 
to wit: N. H. Lock, county and probate judge of said 
county, from his said office, to which said office he, the 
said Lock, was duly and constitutionally elected by the 
people of said county. 

"Third. That he directed, encouraged, and aided 
in frauds in the election of a Senator and three Repre- 
sentatives to the General Assembly, for the thirteenth 
district of the State of Arkansas, composed of the coun- 



320 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ties of Hot Spring, Montgomery, Polk, and Scott, in said 
State of Arkansas. 

"Fourth. That he has accepted pecuniary considera- 
tions for issuing bonds or obhgatlons of the State of 
Arkansas to and In favor of the Memphis and Little 
Rock Railroad Company, in utter violation of law and 
disregard of his official duty as Governor of the State 
of Arkansas; also, he has accepted pecuniary considera- 
tions for issuing bonds or obligations of the State of 
Arkansas to and In favor of the Little Rock and Fort 
Smith Railroad Company, in utter violation of law and 
disregard of his official duty as Governor of the State of 
Arkansas. 

"Fifth. That as Governor of the State of Arkansas 
he has issued bonds or obligations of said State to the 
Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroad Com- 
pany when said company was notoriously not entitled to 
the same under the act of the General Assembly of 
the State of Arkansas, approved July 21, 1868. 

"Sixth. That he has been guilty of other miscon- 
duct and malfeasance in office and other high crimes and 
misdemeanors; therefore moved, 

"First. That the said Powell Clayton, Governor of 
the State of Arkansas, be, and he is hereby, impeached 
of misconduct and malfeasance In office, and high crimes 
and misdemeanors, and that the said Powell Clayton be, 
and Is hereby, suspended from exercising the functions 
of Governor of the State of Arkansas, In conformity 
to and with the constitution thereof. 

"Second. That D. J. Smith, of Columbia County; 
F. M. Thompson, of Columbia County; B. B. Battle, of 
Hempstead County; A. Mason, of Calhoun County; E. 
A. Fulton, of Drew County; W. B. Padgett, of Inde- 
pendence County, and R. A. Howard, of Pulaski County, 
members of the House, be, and they are hereby, appointed 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 321 

managers on the part of the House of Representatives 
of the State of Arkansas to prepare articles of impeach- 
ment against the said Powell Clayton as Governor of 
the State of Arkansas, with full powers to examine wit- 
nesses and otherwise conduct the trial of the impeach- 
ment, in the name and on behalf of all the people of 
the State of Arkansas. 

"Third. That said managers be instructed to go 
immediately to the Senate and at the bar thereof, in the 
name of the House of Representatives, and of all the 
people of the State of Arkansas, to announce the impeach- 
ment of Powell Clayton, Governor of the State of Ar- 
kansas, for misconduct and maladministration of his of- 
fice, as such Governor, and acquaint the Senate that the 
House of Representatives will, in due time, exhibit par- 
ticular articles of impeachment against him, and make 
good the same; and that the managers do demand that 
the Senate take order for the appearance of said Powell 
Clayton, to answer to said impeachment." 

Under whip and spur the "previous question" was 
adopted, cutting off all debate, and the resolution was 
passed by a vote of 42 to 36.^ Thereupon a Board of 
Managers was appointed, with instructions to proceed to 
the bar of the Senate and inform that body of the action 
of the House in the premises.^ 

In the meantime believers in fair play were not idle, 
and the Senate, after an adjournment for lack of quorum 
from day to day, from February 17 to February 24, re- 
assembled on the 25th, when Senator Mallory presented 
rules for the government of the Senate when sitting as a 
Court of Impeachment, which were adopted by a vote of 
18 to 6.* These rules were for the purpose of securing 
to the accused a prompt trial. 

The position taken by the Board of Managers and 



322 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

its ultimatum are set forth in its report to the House, of 
which the following is a copy : ^ 

"We, the committee, selected to conduct the impeach- 
ment of his Excellency, Powell Clayton, Governor of 
the State of Arkansas, report as follows : 

"In obedience to the instructions of your honorable 
body, given to us on the i6th day of February, 1871, 
directing us to proceed to the bar of the Senate and in 
the name of the House of Representatives and of all the 
people of the State of Arkansas announce that the House 
had impeached Powell Clayton, as Governor of the State 
of Arkansas, of high crimes and misdemeanors in office, 
and that we would in due time exhibit particular articles 
of impeachment against him and make good the same, we 
proceeded on three successive mornings immediately after 
said impeachment to the bar of the Senate, and were de- 
nied admittance or recognition. Finally, on the morning 
of the 20th day of February, 1871, we were recognized, 
and announced at the bar of the Senate the impeachment 
aforesaid, pursuant to said instructions. After this an- 
nouncement His Excellency was notified of his impeach- 
ment by the proper officer, as we are informed and be- 
lieve, and within the time prescribed by law. We, there- 
fore, contend and insist that all necessary notice of said 
impeachment hath been given and that we have thus far 
faithfully discharged our duties. 

"Since and immediately after the impeachment afore- 
said a majority of the Senators of this General Assembly 
have wilfully absented themselves from their places in 
the Senate for several successive days, without leave or 
sufficient excuse, with the intention, as we believe, of de- 
feating or retarding the action of this House in the im- 
peachment of His Excellency. Since the return of said 
absent Senators the Senate has adopted rules to govern 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 323 

them, when sitting as a court of impeachment, by which 
this committee would be prohibited in a trial of impeach- 
ment from arguing any prehminary or interlocutory ques- 
tion or motion, arising or made in the progress of said 
trial, exceeding ten minutes, unless the Senate should 
otherwise direct, and by which more than two of your 
committee would be prohibited from making a final ar- 
gument on the merits, and occupying more than thirty 
minutes to each person so allowed to argue, unless the 
Senate, by order, should extend the time. 

"We, therefore, conclude : 

"First. That no fair trial of impeachment of the said 
Powell Clayton can or will be had before the Senate 
under their said rules. 

"Second. That any trial of impeachment of the said 
Powell Clayton before said Senate under said rules will 
be a farce. 

"We, therefore, respond to the resolution adopted 
by this House requiring your committee to again appear 
at the bar of the Senate and announce the impeachment 
of Powell Clayton, Governor of the State of Arkansas, 
by saying that we are willing to again announce said im- 
peachment at the bar of the Senate on the following condi- 
tions, to wit : 

"First. That we shall be assured that any articles of 
impeachment preferred against the said Powell Clayton, 
as Governor of the State of Arkansas, will not be con- 
sidered invalid, set at naught, or dismissed by the Senate, 
because notice was or has not been given to them within 
the time required by law. 

"Second. That the Senate will give your committee 
at least twenty days in which to prepare particular arti- 
cles of impeachment against the said Powell Clayton and 
at least thirty days from second announcement or notice 
of said impeachment in which to produce the evidence to 



324 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

sustain the same, and all continuances necessary to ob- 
tain important testimony failed to be obtained after the 
use of reasonable diligence to obtain the same. 

"Third. That the Senate repeal rules twenty and 
twenty-one of the rules adopted by them for their gov- 
ernment in impeachment trials and grant to us an un- 
limited right of argument and debate of all questions and 
issues of law, fact, and evidence arising in the progress 
of the trial of impeachment of said Powell Clayton, as 
Governor of the State of Arkansas. 

"And that unless said conditions are granted we are 
unwilling to act as a committee selected as aforesaid, 
and respectfully ask that we be discharged as such com- 
mittee and that others be appointed in our stead, who 
may be or are willing to act as such committee. In mak- 
ing this request we recognize the right of this House to 
instruct, at all times, its committees." 

The facts were that on the three successive mornings 
mentioned in the report they proceeded to the Senate 
Chamber and found that body not in session by reason of 
the lack of quorum before mentioned. The validity of 
the presentation made on the 25th of February, 1871, no 
one questioned. 

The last two sections of their report clearly show 
that their demands were based upon the idea of pro- 
tracted delays to furnish time for the conspirators to 
carry into effect their purposes. The House, doubtless, 
saw through their thinly veiled pretext, and promptly 
excused them from further service, and appointed a new 
Board, composed of C. B. Neal, Charles Minor, and 
Joseph A. Meek, — all Democrats.^ 

This new Board of Managers entered at once upon 
the discharge of their duties. After having exhausted all 
their efforts to obtain sufficient evidence upon which to 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 325 

base particular articles of impeachment, they so reported 
to the House on March 4, 1871. The following is a copy 
of said report, which, with the resolution therein sub- 
mitted, was adopted by a vote of 49 to 18:'^ 

"Mr. Speaker: The committee appointed by this 
honorable House as a board of managers to prepare 
particular articles of impeachment against His Excellency, 
Powell Clayton, Governor of the State of Arkansas, and 
to exhibit and make good the same, did, in obedience to 
the order of this House, immediately proceed to the bar 
of the Senate, and did there give notice that they would 
in due time exhibit particular articles of impeachment 
against said Powell Clayton, Governor of the State of 
Arkansas; and the committee have made every effort 
within their power to obtain information to enable them 
to prepare such articles of impeachment for the considera- 
tion of this House. 

"The Committee addressed to the honorable board of 
managers heretofore appointed by this House in this 
behalf a letter, and delivered the same to the honorable 
chairman of said board the day it bears date, a copy of 
which letter is hereto annexed, respectfully requesting 
said board of managers to furnish this committee with 
the testimony, the names of all witnesses on behalf of 
the State in the case of impeachment against His Ex- 
cellency, Powell Clayton, together with the residences of 
said witnesses, and the committee have not as yet re- 
ceived the desired information. 

"The committee, as a board of managers, have used 
their utmost diligence to learn such facts as the com- 
mittee are of the opinion must be learned in order to 
exhibit particular articles of impeachment against His 
Excellency, the Governor, with a dignity becoming this 
honorable House; and have carefully sought informa- 



326 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

tlon of parties who the committee had reason to believe 
were in possession of or conversant with the facts and 
evidence necessary to conduct the trial of his impeach- 
ment successfully, and have failed in their efforts. 

"The committee have also examined with care the 
records of the office of the honorable, the Secretary of 
State, which have a bearing on the issuing of State bonds 
to the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroad 
Company, in connection with the acts of the General 
Assembly of the State of Arkansas, with reference to 
issuing State bonds to railroads, and are of the opinion 
that there is not sufficient evidence to convict His Ex- 
cellency of misdemeanor in office. 

"The committee, having made these unsuccessful ef- 
forts to procure the necessary evidence or information, 
have to report that they have failed to obtain any facts 
as data that would warrant them in attempting to pre- 
pare particular articles of impeachment against His Ex- 
cellency, Governor Powell Clayton. 

"When these grave questions were presented to this 
House, some fifteen days ago, this House was assured 
that there was ample testimony at hand to sustain the 
charges therein set forth, which could be obtained at any 
time, and would be furnished on application, with a full 
and complete statement of facts that could be proven on 
trial, which would have enabled the committee to pre- 
pare particular articles of impeachment upon such state- 
ments. 

"The committee are now informed by some that there 
is certain evidence in the city of New York and other 
places that will sustain the charges. From others, by 
whom we were informed of the abundance and sufficiency 
of proof at hand, the committee can get no information 
whatever. And such information as the committee have 
been able to obtain is in the opinion of the committee 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 327 

entirely inadequate to sustain the charges against the 
Governor, and too frivolous to attempt a further prose- 
cution of this case. 

"And beheving as we did, when we voted to impeach 
Governor Clayton, that it is not only the right but the 
sworn duty of a Representative of the people to protect 
their rights by a thorough investigation of the official acts 
of their servants, however high the position they occupy, 
we here take occasion to say, with the lights then before 
us, we would do so again. 

"The committee entered upon a discharge of the 
duties imposed upon them with a full determination that 
to the best of their ability they would vindicate the rights 
of the people; but, while they are ready and willing to 
vindicate the people's rights, they are unwilling to prose- 
cute this case further when they have no grounds to 
believe that they can, from any proof within the knowl- 
edge or reach of the committee, prosecute this case to a 
successful termination. 

"In view of the facts above stated, and the further 
fact the people demand at our hands such relief as we 
are able to give by legislation, the committee would re- 
spectfully recommend the adoption of the following reso- 
lution : 

"Resolved: That further proceedings in the im- 
peachment of Powell Clayton be dispensed with, and 
that the action of this House heretofore taken be set 
aside and cancelled; that the Senate be informed of the 
action of this House in the premises by the clerk of the 
House, and that the committee as the board of managers 
be discharged." 

The primary object of the impeachment proceedings 
was to cause my suspension from office, the induction of 
Lieutenant-Governor Johnson to the Gubernatorial chair, 



328 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

and such delay In the prosecution of the Impeachment that 
I would have remained Indefinitely out of office, while ray 
enemies worked out their ulterior purposes. 

The disastrous failure of this whole conspiracy greatly 
strengthened me with my party, as Is shown by the re- 
sults of my second election to the United States Senate, 
which occurred on March 15, 1871, when I received a 
two-thirds majority on joint ballot: all Repubhcans, — 18 
votes in the Senate ^ and 42 in the House.^ 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XV 

^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 369-371. 
^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 371-372. 
^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 376-377. 
* Arkansas Senate Journal, 1871, pp. 188-189. 
° Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 512-514. 
^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, p. 519. 
''Arkansas House Journal, 1871, pp. 538-541. 
® Arkansas Senate Journal, 1871, p. 273. 
^Arkansas House Journal, 1871, p. 716. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 329 



CHAPTER XVI 

MY SENATORIAL INVESTIGATION 

I now come to a question which gave me much trouble 
but which in the end, in the investigation of my right to 
a seat in the United States Senate, led to my most trium- 
phant vindication and the complete downfall of my politi- 
cal enemies. 

At the fall election of 1870 illegal polls were set up 
in Pulaski County for the purpose of electing Joseph 
Brooks, James L, Hodges, and other political enemies 
of mine to the State Legislature. 

The election for Representatives to Congress was 
held at the same time, and in the district of which Pulaski 
County was a part the candidates for the Lower Hotise 
of Congress were John Edwards, Democrat, and Thomas 
Boles, Republican. Some time after this election, but 
before all the returns had been certified to the Secretary 
of State, information came to me from the very highest 
sources (being no less than from the Supreme Court and 
the Legislative Department of the State) which satisfied 
me that what purported to be returns in the office of the 
Secretary of State for eight precincts in the county of 
Pulaski were the returns of bogus elections, and conse- 
quently were no returns at all in the legal acceptation of 
the term. 

In three of the precincts referred to, two sets of polls 
were held, — one by the legally appointed officers, and 
the other by persons who, under false pretenses, usurped 



330 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

the lawful authority and held illegal elections. Mani- 
festly both polls could not have been legal, since the 
law only authorized one set of polls in each precinct. The 
county clerk, who was a party to the frauds, certified 
to the Secretary of State the returns of the unauthorized 
judges, and declined to certify the returns of the regular 
judges. 

Upon a writ of mandamus the case was heard by the 
Supreme Court of the State and a decision was rendered, 
with the concurrence of the full bench, that the elections 
held by the judges appointed by the Board of Registration 
were the legal elections, and that the others were illegal 
and void; and the county clerk was compelled to certify 
the returns accordingly. 

Thus we had in the office of the Secretary of State 
what purported to be two sets of election returns Tor 
the three precincts referred to, and in the exercise of 
what I conceived to be not only a wise discretion but my 
sworn duty I discarded the returns of the election de- 
clared illegal and void by the Supreme Court. 

A short time after the assembling of the Legislature, 
which had been chosen at this election, a resolution was 
passed by both Houses and a joint committee appointed 
to investigate the election frauds I have referred to. In 
their report, made to the Legislature on February ii, 
1871,^ they gave a detailed account of the result of their 
investigations and declared it to be the opinion of the 
committee that the elections held In the precincts alluded 
to should be declared void. 

Thus the legislative department and the State Su- 
preme Court concurred in the decision that the elections 
so held were null and void. In accordance with these 
decisions the returns from these elections were excluded 
from the count, and by this act It appeared that John 
Edwards was elected to Congress from the Third Con- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 331 

gressional District of Arkansas; therefore on the 20th 
of February I issued a proclamation ^ giving to Edwards 
a certificate of election. "The head and front of my of- 
fending hath this extent, no more." For this I was in- 
dicted by the United States Court. 

As an election for a Senator to Congress was soon to 
take place in Arkansas, the opposition to the administra- 
tion gave forth statements that the certificate of election 
was issued to John Edwards, Democrat, in pursuance of 
a trade, whereby I was to receive the support of the 
Democratic members of the Legislature for my election to 
the United States Senate. 

Prior to this I had been elected to the United States 
Senate, but had declined the election for the reason that 
the Republican party felt that its interests would not be 
safe in the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor. However, 
during the interim between my first and second Senatorial 
election an arrangement took place which resulted in 
White's resigning the oflice of Secretary of State and the 
Lieutenant-Governor's being appointed in his place. In 
connection with these changes I was charged with having 
contributed money and bonds to secure White's resigna- 
tion. 

I did not formally answer this charge during the 
investigation in the United States Senate. I had taken 
the floor to do so when Senator Hitchcock, of Nebraska, 
came to me and urged that I should not enter upon the dis- 
cussion of that particular point lest it might result in the 
re-reference of the report to the committee and there- 
by delay the proceedings, — already unreasonably pro- 
longed, — when at that moment an ample number of 
votes could be had to insure the passage of the majority 
report. 

With the exception of stating that I was ready to go 
before the bar of the Senate and take oath that I had not 



332 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

contributed any money or bonds for Mr, White, I imme- 
diately accepted Senator Hitchcock's suggestion. 

I now take this occasion to say emphatically that I 
contributed neither money nor bonds to the fund raised 
and held by Jackson E. Sickels for Mr. White. Senator 
Hadley, who participated in the arrangement for White's 
resignation and who became Lieutenant-Governor in the 
place of Johnson, is still living and can bear witness to 
this statement. 

I was told by Jackson E. Sickels that the money and 
bonds to indemnify Secretary White against the loss of 
his railroad interest, should he resign, were contributed 
by Mr. Sawin, the contractor for the building of the Mis- 
sissippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroad. 

The contractors for the various railroads aided by the 
State were entirely dependent upon the sale of State Aid 
bonds for the completion of their work. Therefore, they 
had become very much alarmed by Lieutenant-Governor 
Johnson's expressions of hostility against State Aid to 
Railroads, and by his open espousal, in his "Serenade 
Speech" published on pages 265-269, of the course pur- 
sued by Governor Senter of Tennessee, Governor Walker 
of Virginia and others, in what was termed the "sell-out" 
of those States to the Democracy. 

They realized that Johnson's accession to the gov- 
ernorship would be fatal to their interests, and for self- 
protection the indemnifying fund for Secretary White was 
raised. 

Whether Mr. Sawin was assisted by others in a simi- 
lar position I do not know, but I believe the reader will 
agree with me that, under the circumstances, this action 
was entirely justifiable. 

Secretary White testified before the Investigating 
Committee that his railroad interest, against the loss of 
which the fund was raised, was confiscated, as he had 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 333 

feared It would be, and that thereafter the indemnifying 
fund was turned over to him. 

The only connection I had with the transaction was 
to assure Secretary White that should he lose his railroad 
interest through his resignation, I would exert my in- 
fluence to see that the arrangement to indemnify him was 
faithfully carried out. 

On the 15th of March, 1871, about one month after 
the issuance of the certificate to Edwards, I was again 
elected to the United States Senate ^ by a two-thirds ma- 
jority on joint ballot. At this second election, in direct 
refutation of the charge that I had issued the certificate 
to Edwards to secure the support of the Democratic mem- 
bers, but one Democrat voted for me in both Houses. I 
can only account for his vote by the fact that he was a 
Methodist preacher and a conscientious man! 

Upon my going to Washington, O. A. Hadley, who 
was president of the Senate, became acting Governor of 
Arkansas. When I took my seat in the United States 
Senate the Joint Committee to "Inquire into the Condition 
of the Late Insurrectionary States," of which Arkansas 
was one, was in session at the Capitol, and in September, 
1 87 1, it examined Edward Wheeler and William G. 
Whipple, both of Arkansas. In the report of this Com- 
mittee, made on January 9, 1872, the following language 
is used:* 

"The testimony of these witnesses (Wheeler and Whip- 
ple) tends to impeach the oflicial character and conduct 
of a member of the United States Senate from the State 
of Arkansas, and also to affect the right of a member 
of the House of Representatives from that State to re- 
tain his seat in the House. 

"Other evidence of the same character was offered, and 
one of the gentlemen affected by this testimony claimed 



334 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

the right to bring witnesses before the committee to con- 
tradict or explain the same. (Why did not the Sena- 
tor state that it was I who made the demand to be heard 
before that committee and was refused upon the ground 
that they were about to close their work?) The com- 
mittee, however, upon consideration, decided that the 
subject-matter to which said testimony related did not 
come within the limits of the investigation they were di- 
rected to make, and therefore declined to prosecute the 
inquiry any further, discharging a witness who had been 
subpoenaed and was then awaiting examination. The 
joint select committee, pursuing what it deemed the proper 
parliamentary course, at a meeting on December 21, 
1 87 1, adopted the following resolution: 

" 'Resolved: That the committee report the testimony 
taken before it, affecting Senator Clayton and Mr. Ed- 
wards, a Representative from Arkansas, to the Senate 
and House of Representatives, with a recommendation 
that each House take such action as it may deem proper.' 

"Agreeable to this resolution of said joint select com- 
mittee, the undersigned Chairman on the part of the Sen- 
ate and the Chairman on the part of the House of Repre- 
sentatives beg leave to submit the testimony of Edward 
Wheeler and William G. Whipple, both of the State of 
Arkansas, said Wheeler and Whipple having been the 
only witnesses from that State who were examined by the 
committee, to the Senate and House of Representatives, 
for such action as each House may deem advisable." 

After the above recommendations had been submitted 
to the Senate, Mr. Scott, the Chairman on the part of the 
Senate, made the following explanation: 

"The testimony directed to be reported covers over 
thirty pages and the Senate would not listen to that now, 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 335 

but it is due to the Senator (Mr. Clayton) who is im- 
plicated by this report that I should make a very brief 
statement of the reasons that have induced the committee 
to make the report. 

"The witnesses who were called were called primarily 
with reference to some judicial proceedings that were then 
pending in Arkansas. Their testimony revealed the fact 
that indictments were pending in that State against Sena- 
tor Clayton, which were not yet tried. Since the time 
these witnesses were examined before the committee the 
indictments have been dismissed in that court, not upon a 
trial but upon a demurrer to the indictments. . . . Other 
incidental testimony was elicited; but the point which 
struck the committee as requiring them to take the course 
which they did, presented briefly, was this : It is charged 
that Senator Clayton, as Governor of Arkansas, made a 
bargain with the Democrats in that Legislature that he 
would disregard the returns of the election upon file with 
reference to the candidates for Congress, — Mr. Ed- 
wards and Mr. Boles, — and issue a certificate to Mr. Ed- 
wards, the returns showing Mr. Boles to be elected, in 
consideration of the support of the Democratic portion 
of that Legislature for the office of United States Sena- 
tor." ^ 

Thus it was that these unfounded charges were 
brought before the Congress of the United States, and 
that, too, in the face of the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the State and the Legislative Department. It 
merely goes to show that I was to be discredited and cast 
off, no matter what methods were resorted to, on the 
mistaken principle, I suppose, that "the end justifies the 
means." This was only one of a series of similar at- 
tempts, and its complete and ignominious failure proves 
that right will triumph in the end. 



336 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

After the report was read and Mr. Scott had made 
the remarks above quoted, I said: "As I am the Senator 
impHcated in this testimony, and as I do not care to lie 
under imputations one day longer than can possibly be 
avoided, I ask of the Senate unanimous consent to pro- 
ceed to the present consideration of the report." ^ The 
consent of the Senate was obtained and I addressed that 
body on the subject matter of the report, and in closing 
requested a full and thorough investigation, in the follow- 
ing language: "1 ask of the Senate that an opportunity 
may be afforded me to defend myself against the asper- 
sions of two political, and I may say personal, enemies; 
for the assaults made upon me by them and their co- 
adjutors transcend the ordinary rules of political war- 
fare. Since investigation is the order, let us have one in 
this case that will allow both sides to be heard; and if 
in the course of that inquiry it shall be found that im- 
proper acts or motives attach to me, then so be it. Let 
the Senate know it and the country know it; but if, upon 
the contrary, it shall be found that the dart which has 
been hurled at me by the hand of vindictive malice shall 
fail to reach its mark, or, like the Australian boomerang, 
shall return to lacerate the hand that projected it, then 
let that fact be made known and let the responsibility 
rest where it belongs. I ask, Mr. President, for a spe- 
cial committee clothed with the necessary powers to carry 
out the object of this inquiry." "^ 

Immediately after these remarks Mr. Wright offered 
the following resolution: "Resolved: That the report 
of the committee and the testimony accompanying be re- 
ferred to a special committee of three, with powers to 
send for persons and papers, to investigate and report 
upon the charges therein contained against Hon. Powell 
Clayton, a member of this body." ^ 

This resolution was considered by unanimous consent, 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 337 

and agreed to, and the appointment of the committee was 
left to the Chair, who named as such committee Mr. 
Wright, Mr. Morrill, and Mr. Norwood. 

The investigations of this special committee were 
begun on the i8th day of January, 1872. James L. 
Hodges, of Arkansas, obtained leave of the committee 
to prosecute the charges before them, and I was present 
in person and by my counsel, Hon. Thomas M. Bowen 
and Hon. John McClure, both of Arkansas. The com- 
mittee held almost daily sessions from the day last named 
until and including the 14th day of May, when the testi- 
mony was closed. During that time they examined thirty- 
eight witnesses, whose testimony covered about 5,000 
manuscript pages. Much of this testimony was absolutely 
irrelevant, as will be seen from the following extract 
from the majority report: ^ 

"We are justified in saying that much of it was taken 
and received de bene esse. In other words, for the prose- 
cution it was claimed that they would be able to show 
certain combinations, conspiracies, and corrupt agreements 
which, if established, would make such testimony compe- 
tent and relevant. For the defense it was insisted that 
this state of case could not be shown, and in no event 
could such testimony be admissible under the resolution 
of the Senate and the matter submitted for our investiga- 
tion, but in view of the possibility of its being so held, 
they submitted their testimony to meet the case supposed 
by the prosecution." 

As the taking of the testimony in the case was not 
completed until the 14th day of May and Congress ad- 
journed on the lOth of the next month, there was not 
sufficient time for the special committee to examine the 
mass of testimony and make a report before the adjourn- 



338 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ment, and the matter was carried over to the next session 
of Congress, which assembled on the id of December, 
1872. 

On the 26th of February, 1873, Mr. Wright, Chair- 
man of the Special Committee, asked and obtained leave 
to submit the report of the committee on the charges 
against me. In presenting the report he made the fol- 
lowing remarks :^^ 

"I present the report of the Select committee ap- 
pointed in January, a little over a year ago, to inquire 
into certain charges against Hon. Powell Clayton, a Sena- 
tor from the State of Arkansas. In view of the length 
of time since the appointment of the committee I think it 
due to the committee and the Senate, if not to the coun- 
try, that I should make a word of explanation. We en- 
tered on the discharge of our duties immediately upon 
our appointment. We devoted from two to three hours 
each day to the investigation. The testimony was closed 
near the adjournment of the last session. Being unable 
to examine all the testimony before the last session of 
Congress adjourned, we made a partial report.^^ 

"Immediately upon our re-appointment at this ses- 
sion we entered on the discharge of this duty and have 
examined the entire testimony (about 5,000 pages) for 
the purpose of determining what was admissible and what 
was not. This has necessarily taken days and weeks, and 
only now have we concluded the examination of such testi- 
mony and determined what was admissible under the rule 
thus established. I submit the majority report, with the 
accompanying testimony." 

In this report, in referring to the charges under con- 
sideration, Mr. Wright said: "As there are no specific 
charges in the report itself, the testimony of the witnesses 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 339 

must stand alone in the place of charges, the information, 
or indictment. Than this few things could be more in- 
definite or unsatisfactory; so entirely wanting in every- 
thing approximating conciseness, clearness, or definite- 
ness." 12 

Further on he said: "As we read the record, Senator 
Clayton received a clear majority in each branch of the 
General Assembly, outside of those claimed to be fraudu- 
lently elected, and some of those whose elections are thus 
assailed, voted against him, and this alone is all that 
need be stated upon this subject. So it only remains to 
inquire into the alleged frauds connected with the elec- 
tion. And here the principal if not the only one is that 
Senator Clayton issued to Hon. John Edwards a certifi- 
cate of election to the House of Representatives of the 
present Congress, upon a corrupt bargain or agreement 
that he was to receive in return for the same the support 
of the Democratic members of the General Assembly. 
If this charge is not sustained we hazard but very little 
in saying that there is nothing left of this case, and a brief 
statement will show how utterly groundless it is in fact." ^^ 

"By the decision of the Supreme Court and the report 
of the committee in the Legislature the elections held by 
the regular judges were determined to be the only legal 
ones, and following these decisions the Governor gave the 
certificate of election to Edwards. It would certainly 
be most extraordinary to say that the Executive of a State 
may not follow the decision of its highest judicial tribunal, 
— that he may not act upon the proceedings of the Legis- 
lative branch." ^* "But this is not all. General Edwards 
was given the certificate on the 20th of February, 1871. 
Governor Clayton was not elected until the 15th of 
March. He did not receive any votes under any such 
agreement, and least of all any number suflicient to in- 
fluence the result." 



340 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"Hence, we conclude that nothing could be plainer 
or more manifest than that this charge is totally and en- 
tirely unsustained!" ^^ "What he wanted was not votes, 
for he had them, but he wanted such a condition of things 
as that he could take the office and keep faith with his 
friends." ^^ 

He concluded his report with the following resolution: 
"Resolved: That the charges made and referred to the 
select committee for investigation, affecting the official 
character and conduct of the Hon. Powell Clayton, are 
not sustained, and that the Committee be discharged from 
their further consideration." ^"^ 

No immediate action was had on this report, and the 
minority committee asked and obtained leave to present 
its views, which was done on March i, 1873.^^ This 
report of the minority, presented by Senator Norwood, 
was based largely on the testimony of one W. H, Mc- 
Connell, concerning whom Mr. Wright, in the majority 
report, gave forth the following statement: 

"One witness (McConnell) undertakes to bring all 
the matters detailed by him, or many of them, home to 
the Senator. But we feel bound to say that, in many 
respects, his story is improbable, and he stands before 
us in such an attitude that we are constrained to discredit 
much that he says. While before us he was almost a 
wreck from long continued dissipation, and we were com- 
pelled to put him under treatment for several days be- 
fore his testimony could be completed. It seems to us that 
no tribunal would be justified in condemning anyone upon 
the mere recollections of such a witness months after the 
transactions occurred." ^^ 

During the proceedings In the Senate, Mr. Cameron, 
a Senator from Pennsylvania, made the following state- 
ment concerning the witness McConnell : 

"Mr. President, as the doors are now open and what 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 341 

I say will be put before the public, I desire to state that 
I was told to-day for the first time that an important wit- 
ness in the case of the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. 
Clayton) is a person called McConnell, and I learned, 
too, that he belonged to the State which I have the honor 
in part to represent. He belongs to a very respectable 
family there, a family of great ability. Nearly all of 
them have great talents, but sometimes they do not use 
them for the best purposes, though most of them, I think, 
do. He is a native, I think, of the town of my colleague. 
But I remember this of him, that he is perhaps the most 
unreliable man that ever was born in the State of Penn- 
sylvania. We have some bad men there, but I do not 
think anybody quite so bad as he. 

"I desire to tell you only one or two facts in regard 
to his conduct. Some years ago there was a gentleman, 
Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, who was not par- 
ticularly my friend, and if I were to mention his name you 
would think he never was my friend, and I ought not to 
defend him here. But he had, among other good quali- 
ties, the quality of hospitahty. One evening a person 
came into his house without any invitation, and made him- 
self exceedingly agreeable to everybody there, on the 
occasion of a party of ladies and gentlemen. He made 
himself so agreeable that he attracted everybody's atten- 
tion. After a while, about the time he ought to have 
gone away, he suddenly became very sick and asked the 
hospitahty of the governor's family to remain there all 
night. He remained all night. The next morning he was 
still sick, and he remained sick for four or five days. In 
the meanwhile he stole the affections of the governor's 
daughter, and he stole out one evening and got the justice 
of the peace to marry them. Of course the governor, and 
especially his excellent wife, were terribly shocked that a 
person of that kind should become a member of their 



342 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

family; but on his return, immediately after the perform- 
ance of the ceremony, he was driven out of the house. 
The Legislature met directly afterward. So much 
wounded in his feelings was the governor that he went to 
Cuba and remained there until the Legislature divorced 
them, and this young man went out into the world again. 
After a while I heard of him in Philadelphia, and he com- 
mitted about the same sort of an act in Philadelphia, in 
the house of a friend of mine. 

"I therefore desire to say now, as I cannot be here 
to-morrow, that I should place no more reliance upon the 
word of that man than I would upon the word of a man 
who had been a hundred years In the penitentiary, for 1 
think the fellow ought to be there at least half of that 
time." 20 

Senator Scott, Senator Dorsey and others also testi- 
fied as to his utter unreliability and declared that his testi- 
mony should be entirely disregarded. 

The session of Congress adjourned on the 3d of 
March, two days after the minority report was made, so 
no final action could be had, but on the closing day Mr. 
Wright, Chairman of the Committee, gave notice that he 
would call up the report at the earliest possible moment 
at the next session of the Senate and press for immediate 
action. 

A special session of the Senate convened on the fol- 
lowing day, the 4th, and on the nth of March, In ac- 
cordance with the notice given by Mr. Wright, he again 
offered the resolution that the charges were not sustained 
and that the committee be discharged. However, action 
was postponed from day to day, at the Instance of the 
minority, until on the 25th day of March, 1873, the re- 
port and resolution went to vote and was adopted, 33 
voting in the affirmative and 6 in the negative. ^^ 

So, while my political enemies succeeded in placing me 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 343 

in this defensive position during one year of my Senatorial 
services, tlieir malign purposes were finally and completely 
frustrated by this action of the United States Senate. 

R. F. Catterson, United States Marshal, and W. G. 
Whipple, United States District Attorney, had been re- 
moved from their respective positions by the President; 
Catterson for alleged participation in the election frauds 
in Pulaski County in 1870, — frauds that I have described, 
— and Whipple for undue partisanship. B. F. Rice, a 
United States Senator from Arkansas, was supporting 
these two officers and using all his influence to have them 
reinstated. 

He had so poisoned the minds of the Republican Sena- 
tors in Congress, — with tales of how I was forming al- 
liances with the Democrats and selling out the Republican 
party in Arkansas, and of how the removal of these two 
federal officers was made because of their connection with 
the indictment brought against me, — that when I took my 
seat in the Senate I was accorded a very cool reception. 

If it had not been for this antagonistic atmosphere, 
created by the misrepresentations of Senator Rice, I would 
probably have contested in the Senate the reference of 
testimony taken before the Ku Klux Committee to the 
United States Senate. As it was, I decided to ask for 
the investigation that my enemies were so anxious to have 
made. 

I had recommended the appointment of Isaac Mills 
and S. R. Harrington to succeed to the respective posi- 
tions formerly held by Catterson and Whipple. Rice 
used every means at his command to induce the President 
to withdraw these nominations and reinstate Catterson 
and Whipple, but without success. However, the Senate 
supported Rice by holding up their confirmation. 



344 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

When Rice found that he could not fully control these 
Presidential appointments he called a meeting of the 
State Central Committee of Arkansas,^^ of which he was 
Chairman, and went down to Arkansas to get the full 
support of that organization to further his plans and 
purposes. When the committee assembled he used every 
means to gain the co-operation of a majority of that body. 
He resorted to subterfuge to keep one member who was 
known to be my friend from attending the meeting, and 
he voted a proxy that had been given to him and after- 
ward withdrawn ^^ when it became known what he was 
trying to do. 

Notwithstanding all the questionable methods he used 
to carry the committee, he found that he was in the mi- 
nority and the Chairmanship of the State Central Com- 
mittee was wrested from him and given to me. 

This placed him and his followers in a desperate situ- 
ation and resulted in the organization of the Liberal Re- 
publican party in Arkansas. Rice, as chairman, issued a 
call for a State Convention, which met and elected dele- 
gates to the Liberal Republican National Convention, to 
be held in Cincinnati in May, 1872, where they supported 
the Greeley and Brown Presidential ticket. 

Some time later the Democratic party in Arkansas 
held its State Convention and adopted, as their own, the 
platform and ticket headed by Joseph Brooks, of the 
Liberal Republican Convention held at Little Rock, and 
also the platform of the Liberal Republican National 
Convention held at Cincinnati. The delegates selected 
by them to attend the Democratic National Convention 
were instructed to give their support to the Greeley and 
Brown ticket.^* 

When that convention met in Baltimore on July 9, 
1872, it decided in favor of the Greeley and Brown ticket 
and combined its strength with that of the Liberal Re- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 345 

publican National Convention for its success. Thus the 
combination was both State and National. 

B. F. Rice attended the Convention held in Cincinnati, 
and when that fact became known it was a revelation to 
the President and the United States Senate of his real 
sentiments. They realized then that if the Republican 
party in Arkansas were sold out, I would not be the one 
responsible for it. 

The confirmation of the federal officers, which had 
been held up so long, was immediately made. 

This exposure of Rice's motives had the effect of 
making me solid with the Administration and with the 
Republican United States Senators, and put me in com- 
plete control of the situation at home. I was made the 
referee for Arkansas for all federal appointments in every 
department of the Government. 

I headed a full delegation to the Repubhcan National 
Convention, held in Philadelphia in June, 1872, where we 
gave our undivided support to the Grant and Wilson 
Presidential ticket, and where I was made the Republican 
National Committeeman from Arkansas, which position 
I held continuously, with the exception of about two years, 
until and including 191 2, when I voluntarily resigned. 

The following is a copy of the resolution passed by 
the Republican National Committee, on the acceptance 
of my resignation : 

"RESOLVED : That it is with sincere and profound 
regret that we accept the resignation of General Powell 
Clayton, who, for a period of forty years, represented 
the State of Arkansas upon this Committee, except for a 
brief interim of two years. For many years he was the 
Senior, or Dean, of the Committee. His State organiza- 
tion would have retained him on the Committee to the end 



346 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

of his days, but declining health and extreme feebleness 
demanded his voluntary retirement. 

"RESOLVED: That the good wishes of the Com- 
mittee be extended him, as also their high appreciation for 
his long, honorable, and patriotic services as one of its 
members. 

"RESOLVED : That these resolutions be made a 
part of the record, and a copy mailed to the General at 
his present address by the Secretary." 

This resolution was adopted by a unanimous, stand- 
ing vote of the Committee. 

OVERTHROW OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN ARKANSAS 

The long-drawn-out Senatorial Investigation, during 
which any enemy was at liberty to come in and discharge 
his rusty weapon at me and my friends, had occupied so 
much of my time in Washington that I had, to a certain 
extent, neglected political affairs at home, where condi- 
tions were such as now seriously to threaten the overthrow 
of the Republican party as the governmental force in 
Arkansas. 

Under the most favorable circumstances, with the 
party united, our majority of the registered voters had 
always been small. Upon the formation of the Liberal 
Republican party and their nomination of a State ticket 
our forces became largely divided. Their nominee for 
Governor was Joseph Brooks, and upon their alliance 
with the Democrats, heretofore described, he became the 
representative of both parties. 

Shortly after Mr. Brooks was selected the regular 
Republican party held its State Convention for the pur- 
pose of naming a State ticket, and Judge Baxter was nomi- 
nated for Governor. This selection was largely a matter 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 347 

of expediency, as Judge Baxter was an old resident of the 
State and had been a slaveholder. Mr. Brooks had been 
previously very unpopular with the Democratic party; 
in fact, with the exception of myself, he perhaps was with 
them the most unpopular man in the whole State. 

It was hoped by the regular Republicans that this fact 
would cause a number of the Democrats to support Judge 
Baxter. We beheved that although he was a candidate 
on the Repubhcan ticket he would be more acceptable to 
them than Mr. Brooks. 

Judge Baxter was not a man of strong or decided 
character, as will be shown from the fact that when the 
war broke out he conceived the idea of remaining neutral 
while the great Civil War was fought out around him. 
This resulted in his being confined in the penitentiary by 
the Confederates, where he remained until he was liber- 
ated by the Commanding General of the Federal Army. 
It was then that he became allied with the Republican 
cause. When I became Governor I made him Judge of 
the Third Judicial District of the State. 

Not long after Judge Baxter's nomination, while he 
and I were campaigning together, I discovered duplicity 
in his dealings. We traveled from day to day in the same 
buggy and stopped at the same hotels. He worked with 
me during the day and at night he was having secret con- 
ferences with the Democrats, and was making pledges to 
them which he had no authority to make for the Republi- 
can party. 

It then dawned on me that we had made a bad politi- 
cal deal. If we did not elect Judge Baxter, we were de- 
feated; and if we did elect him, we were also defeated, 
which in the end proved true. 

When the election took place in November, 1872, 
Judge Baxter was declared elected, and he was inaugu- 
rated on January 6, 1873. Mr. Brooks contested the 



348 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

election before the Legislature, which decided against 
him. Proceedings were then instituted by him in the 
Supreme Court by quo warranto, but that body decided it 
had not the power to try the case. 

On June i6, 1873, he brought suit in the Pulaski Cir- 
cuit Court, claiming the office of Governor, and the case 
was carried over until the following April, nearly one 
year, during which time Governor Baxter was in full con- 
trol of the Governorship. 

On April 15, 1874, the case was called, and Judge 
Whytock entered a final judgment, declaring that Brooks 
was entitled to the office of Governor and that Baxter 
should be ousted. Mr. Brooks procured a copy of the 
judgment and went directly to the Governor's office. He 
ejected Governor Baxter and took possession. 

Governor Baxter immediately took refuge in the 
Headquarters of the Democratic party and set up an es- 
tablishment there, and thereafter he was the complete and 
subservient tool of that party. 

When this news flashed through the State it was the 
signal for one of the most disgraceful happenings that 
ever took place in American politics. Each party now 
espoused the cause of the candidate of the opposition, and 
the whole situation was completely reversed. The ma- 
jority of the Republicans deserted Governor Baxter and 
went to the support of Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Brooks' 
original supporters now championed the cause of Gov- 
ernor Baxter. 

Upon the call of the two candidates, armed men rep- 
resenting both sides of the contest flocked to the capital, 
and a conflict was avoided only by the intervention of 
United States troops. The situation was telegraphed to 
Houses of the Arkansas Legislature, President Grant, on 
Washington, and in response to an appeal from both 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 349 

May 15, 1874, Issued a proclamation declaring in Gov- 
ernor Baxter's favor.^^ 

This "war" was made the subject of an investigation 
by a United States House Committee, known as the Po- 
land Committee, and a large mass of false testimony was 
given against me. As Chairman of the State Central 
Committee I felt called upon to correct this, and, al- 
though I was aware that Luke Poland, the Chairman 
of the Committee, was distinctly antagonistic to me, I 
went before the Committee for that purpose. 

When I entered the room I saw to my amazement 
that Mr. Brooks, then largely supported by Republicans, 
had chosen the brother of B. F. Rice, my bitter political 
enemy, as his counsel, and that Governor Baxter was 
represented by the chairman of the Democratic State 
Committee. I also found that Mr. Brooks had made 
Gen. Dandridge McRae, the red-handed Ku Klux of 
White County, who was implicated in the murder of 
Albert Parker, Brigadier-General upon his staff. 

Under those conditions I decided not to testify, and 
then and there I washed my hands of the whole disgrace- 
ful affair, relying for my vindication upon the triumphant 
termination of my Senatorial investigation. 

Without going further into the history of this contest, 
it is sufficient to say that from the moment Elisha Bax- 
ter surrendered the State Government to the Democrats 
that party became and has remained supreme in the 
State. 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XVI 

* Arkansas Senate Journal, 1871, pp. 142-161. 

2 Published in Daily Republican, February 21, 1 87 1. 
2 Arkansas Senate Journal, 1871, p. 282. 

* Congressional Record, pt. i, 2d Sess., 42d Congress, 1871-72, 
p. 311. 



350 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

^ Congressional Record, pt. i, 2d Sess., 42d Congress, 1871-72, 
p. 311. 

^ Congressional Record, pt. i, 2d Sess., 42d Congress, 1871-72, 
p. 311. 

^ Congressional Record, pt. i, 2d Sess., 42d Congress, 1871-72, 
p. 318. 

* Congressional Record, pt. i, 2d Sess., 42d Congress, 1871-72, 
p. 318. 

^ Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 2. 

^^ Congressional Record, pt. 3, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872- 

73, p. 1785. 

^^Congressional Record, pt. 5, 2d Sess., 42d Congress, 1871- 

72, p. 4498. 

^^ Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 4. 

^^ Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 7. 

"Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 8. 

"Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 9. 

^® Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 20. 

"Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 21. 

^* Congressional Record, pt. 3, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872- 

73, p. 2016. 

^® Senate Report No. 512, 3d Sess., 42d Congress, 1872-73, 
p. 19. 

^° Congressional Record, Vol. I, 43d Congress, 1873, Special 
Session of the Senate, p. 174. 

^^ Congressional Record, Vol. I, 43d Congress, 1873, Special 
Session of the Senate, p. 192. 

22 Published in Daily Republican^ March 16, 1872. 

^^ Letter of Hon. D. H. Divilbiss, published in Daily Repub- 
lican, April 9, 1872. 

^* Proceedings of Democratic State Convention, published in 
Daily Republican, June 21, 1872. 

25 Published in Daily Republican, May 16, 1872. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 351 



CHAPTER XVII 

DEMOCRATIC ACCESSION TO POWER AND THE USE 
MADE OF IT 

The Arkansas Legislature elected in 1872 assembled 
in January, 1873, and adjourned in the spring of the same 
year. Soon after the adjournment Governor Baxter ap- 
pointed fifty of the members of the two Houses to various 
offices in the State, all of whom accepted the appoint- 
ments. 

In September, 1873, he issued the proclamation ^ for 
special elections to fill the vacancies thus created. Prior 
to the 4th day of November, 1873, when the special elec- 
tions were held, Governor Baxter ordered a new registra- 
tion in all the counties where elections were to be held 
and appointed new boards of registrars to make it. The 
alleged reason for this was that since the registration 
made prior to the general election of 1872 the constitu- 
tion had been amended by striking out the disfranchising 
clause, and thereby a large number of persons had become 
entitled to be registered and to vote. 

The Republicans did not generally nominate candi- 
dates for these special elections, but relied on a public 
pledge of Governor Baxter's that he would not call a 
special session of the Legislature. In consequence all, or 
nearly all, the members so elected were Democrats. 

However, Governor Baxter disregarded his public 
pledge and called the Legislature to assemble in May, 
1874. At that time the Capital of the State was divided 



352 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

into two military camps and Brooks was in possession of 
the State House. For this reason the Legislature con- 
vened, on the nth day of May, 1874, within the military 
lines of Governor Baxter.^ 

When it met there were present only seventeen of the 
original Representatives elected in 1872 and four of the 
original members of the Senate. No quorum was had 
until the 13th, when forty- four Representatives and four- 
teen Senators were present. On the i6th fifty Represen- 
tatives were in attendance, twenty-four of the original 
members and twenty-six who had been chosen at the spe- 
cial elections. Fifteen Senators were present, nine from 
the original election and six from the special elections. 
These new members were admitted to seats without ob- 
jection.^ 

The Act for submitting the question of calling a Con- 
stitutional Convention was introduced in this Legislature 
on the 1 6th day of May, 1874, and was passed by both 
Houses on the same day. The vote in the Senate was 
twelve in the affirmative and three in the negative. The 
whole vote in the House was fifty, but the ayes and nays 
were not called.* 

The election was held on the 30th of June, 1874. 
The vote, as declared by the State Board of Supervisors, 
was 80,259 for Convention and 8,607 against ;'^ the Re- 
publicans practically allowed the election to go by de- 
fault. At the same election delegates to the. Convention 
were chosen. The Convention met on the 14th day of 
July and proceeded to frame a new State Constitution. 

This Constitution should have been submitted to the 
people under the existing laws, as the Constitutional Con- 
vention had no legislative power whatever. Instead of 
that, the Convention assumed the right of providing the 
machinery to conduct the election. "There was an exist- 
ing registration, there were existing officers of registra- 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 353 

tlon and election, and the Convention had no right to 
displace them and provide others," as was done. (See 
Reports of Committees, Nos. loi to 149, 1874-75, pp. 
II, 12.) 

Under these conditions the new Constitution was rati- 
fied on the 13th of October, 1874, — the vote being 78,- 
697 for the Constitution and 24,807 against it.^ 

At the same time the Constitution was voted on, an 
election was illegally held for all officers provided under 
it, — State, County, and Township, — and also for mem- 
bers of both branches of the Legislature. The Republi- 
cans put up no candidates for State officers. The whole 
machinery thus put into operation may safely be treated 
as a political farce. 

A. H. Garland was nominated for Governor by the 
Democrats and was declared elected. On the nth of 
November, 1874, the new Legislature assembled, Mr. 
Garland was inaugurated as Governor, and the State and 
County officers, chosen in the manner heretofore referred 
to, entered upon their duties. 

When the Democrats thus came into possession of 
the State Government they, as quickly as possible, undid 
everything that the Republicans had accomplished. 

True to their desire to keep the masses ignorant, the 
free school system was their starting point. Under Re- 
publican rule no matter how much Auditor's warrants, or 
State scrip, became depreciated, the State officers were 
compelled to accept payments due them in such funds. 
Not so with the Democrats! They immediately pro- 
ceeded to appropriate for the payment of salaries, and 
for other purposes, the permanent school fund which had 
been held sacred by the Republicans and kept Invested 
In United States Bonds. The following is a synopsis of 
a Constitutional ordinance passed for that purpose: 

The United States currency and United States bonds 



354 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

now In the treasury of this State, belonging to the school 
and other funds of the State, except moneys derived from 
the proceeds of the sale of lands donated to the State by 
the United States for school purposes, be and they are 
hereby borrowed to defray the necessary current ex- 
penses of the several departments of this State. 

From one of the first acts passed by their Legislature 
I quote as follows -J 

"Sec. I. That the treasurer of State is hereby au- 
thorized and required to contract with the State Board of 
Finance for the sale of all United States securities now 
in his custody belonging to any permanent fund of this 
State and of all United States currency in the treasury. 

"Sec. 2. That the said sale shall be made for bonds 
of this State, authorized to be issued by act of the General 
Assembly, approved December 23, 1874, at the minimum 
price of said bonds as fixed by law. 

"Sec. 3. That when said sale shall have been made 
the said Board shall make requisition on the said treasurer 
of State for the amount of bonds so contracted for, and 
said bonds, after being signed and attested as required 
by him, shall be deposited in the treasury in lieu of said 
United States securities, and in all respects to be used and 
take the place of the same." 

In the year 1876, under the provisions of this act, the 
United States bonds then constituting the permanent 
school fund were converted, by the Board of Finance, into 
Arkansas State bonds bearing interest at the rate of 6 
per cent.^ At that time Arkansas State bonds could not 
be sold at any price in any of the markets of the world. 

Under the Republican law the interest on the school 
bonds so purchased was required to be apportioned among 
the various school districts for the support of common 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 355 

schools, but now comes the saddest tale of all. For the 
year 1874 the State defaulted on the interest on these 
bonds and remained In default until May 8, 1899, ^ P^" 
riod of twenty-six years, when an act was passed ^ re- 
quiring these Arkansas 6 per cent bonds to be re-issued, 
with accrued interest thereon amounting to $512,335.00,^® 
in Arkansas 3 per cent bonds. Any sensible person must 
know that if there were no purchasers for Arkansas 6 
per cent bonds, there would surely be none for Arkansas 
3 per cent bonds. 

This scheme converted a permanent school fund, in- 
vested in securities bearing a premium, into 3 per cent 
State bonds not worth the paper they were printed on, and 
the money obtained thereby was applied, among other 
things, to the payment of the salaries of State officers. 
The effect of this beating around the bush was to elimi- 
nate the permanent school fund and place the whole bur- 
den of maintaining the public schools upon the shoulders 
of the taxpayers of Arkansas. 

But that was not all. The pubHc schools were closed 
for the years 1874 and 1875 under the pretext that the 
Brooks-Baxter "war" had plunged the State into a condi- 
tion of anarchy and that the opening of the schools was 
impracticable. The children of the State were deprived 
of two years of education on account of this contest, which 
was ridiculously called a war. Only one man was wound- 
ed throughout the entire controversy, and that was an 
accident. This unwarranted closing of the public schools 
only showed the incompetency of Governor Baxter, who 
was, to say the least, the Governor de facto during that 
period. 

In the report of State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, George B. Cook, for 19 12, he used the follow- 
ing language :^^ "The permanent school fund is safely 
invested in State bonds bearing 3 per cent interest." If 



3^6 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

by "safely invested" Superintendent Cook meant that they 
were safe from the pilfering of any thief who might break 
into the State Treasury, he was correct, for no such cul- 
prit would ever stop to pick up such a bond any more than 
he would a Confederate bond that he might find lying 
in the Treasury, as both were of no value. 

I venture to say that never in the history of any State 
have more dishonest methods been resorted to. Could 
the masses of Arkansas, through the density of their igno- 
rance, discern the truth and have a lawful opportunity to 
make effective their will, no Government so conducted 
could, in my opinion, survive the first test at the polls. 

The next Republican policy attacked by the Democrats 
was the loaning of State Aid to Railroads. On April lo, 
1869,^^ a law was passed by the Republicans providing 
for the payment of the interest by the railroad companies 
on the State bonds loaned to them. The railroad compa- 
nies were perfectly satisfied with this law and were not 
asking for any relief. Nevertheless, this law was imme- 
diately repealed ^^ by the Democrats upon their accession 
to power, and the railroad corporations were thereby 
relieved of their just and acknowledged habilities. 

The taxpayers of Arkansas were not required by the 
State Aid Law to pay one cent of interest or principal on 
account of the State Aid bonds. Under the strict provi- 
sions of the law the Railroad Companies and not the peo- 
ple were required to do so.^^ While I was Governor every 
railroad company receiving State Aid fully acknowledged 
this liability. 

It is a matter of record in the United States Court 
at Little Rock that in the suit of W. S. Pierson, Watson 
Matthews, and R. K. Dow vs. The Memphis and Little 
Rock Railroad Company, Sam Tate, et al., that company 
had bought up 931 bonds of $1,000 each, "which bonds 
were issued to the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 357 

Company; fifty-eight (58) to the Arkansas Central Rail- 
road Company; thirty-two (32) to the Mississippi, 
Ouachita, and Red River Railroad Company; and nine 
(9) to the Little Rock and Ft. Smith Railroad Company. 
And also five hundred and one (501) detached coupons 
from 'State Aid Bonds.' The character and number of 
said 'State Aid Bonds' and coupons are shown upon Ex- 
hibit 'H' hereto. Which last named bonds and coupons 
your Master holds subject to the order of the Court, and 
asks that he may make some disposition of the same or be 
otherwise relieved from responsibility for their custody. 
"Chas. p. Redmond, Master." 

These bonds were undoubtedly purchased for the liqui- 
dation of an equivalent part of the State Aid debt con- 
tracted by that company. In the Pulaski Chancery Court 
it is also a matter of record in the suit of W. B. Worthen 
vs. The Little Rock and Ft. Smith Railway Company that 
this company had bought up $627,000 of these bonds, 
inclusive of all overdue coupons, for the purpose of liqui- 
dating its indebtedness to the State in a corresponding 
amount, leaving only $373,000 of its original State 
bonded indebtedness to be provided for. 

Other companies were preparing to do the same thing, 
but when the Democratic party came into power in Ar- 
kansas they repealed that portion of the law providing 
for the payment of interest on the bonds. 

This repeal was passed before the courts had denied 
the validity of the Railroad Loan Act; therefore, unless 
the members of the Legislature who voted for the repeal 
knew beforehand that the courts would invalidate that 
act, they deliberately relieved these corporations of their 
just habilities and compelled the bondholders to look to 
the State for their money. 

By a technicahty never dreamed of by anyone during. 
the years the railroad companies were receiving and sell- 



358 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

ing bonds, the Act was declared unconstitutional. The 
alleged flaw was that upon the passage of the Railroad 
State Aid Bill the aye and nay vote was not made a mat- 
ter of record, as required by the Constitution ! 

As it was with the Funding Bonds so was it with the 
State Aid Bonds. None of them were owned by citizens 
of the State. They had been sold to Northern and Euro- 
pean purchasers, and no one in Arkansas was concerned 
in their behalf. I consider it a very bad policy for a 
State to issue bonds for any purpose when none of them 
are owned by its citizens. 

But worse things than these were to follow. Their 
methods now became wholesale. In the year 1879 W. M. 
Fishback, the Democratic convert, introduced a joint reso- 
lution in the Arkansas Legislature providing for an 
amendment to the State Constitution, which should pro- 
hibit the making of any appropriation to pay either prin- 
cipal or interest of the Funding, or "Holford," bonds, 
the bonds issued to aid in the construction of railroads, 
and those known as the levee bonds. 

This joint resolution was passed by the General As- 
sembly, and the adoption of the Amendment was sub- 
mitted to the people at the general election held in Sep- 
tember, 1880. Among the prominent men who took a 
stand against it was A. H. Garland, who fought it, as he 
declared, "inch by inch, foot by foot, step by step." In 
a great speech made by him at Russellville on July 12, 
1880, in a debate with W. M. Fishback, the author of 
the amendment, he used the following language :^^ 

"If these bonds are ignored, repudiated, destroyed, yet 
still the debt remains to haunt the courts and the State. 
If these bonds are rejected, you will still have to meet 
the question at last, — where is the debt which these bonds 
represent? — and, until the paper is drawn in and receipts 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 359 

passed, there is no settlement before God or man or be- 
fore gentlemen — and the State cannot afford to be any- 
thing else but a gentleman before the world. 

"I think this Amendment is conceived in a mistaken 
policy. I think its advocates and friends have gravely 
erred in propounding it to the people of Arkansas and 
urging it upon them for adoption. If they were the 
sworn enemies of the State, armed with a sword in one 
hand and a torch in the other, determined to do the State 
the utmost damage, they could not, in my opinion, more 
completely accomplish their end than by having the pro- 
posed Amendment incorporated in the Constitution. . . . 
The adoption of the Amendment would, in my opinion, be 
the memorial blunder, if not the crowning crime, of the 
age." 

This was from an ex-Governor of their own party, 
and even the Gazette, the Democratic organ, took ground 
against the adoption of the Amendment. When it went 
to vote it was defeated. 

But the Democrats were not content with this expres- 
sion of disapproval by the people, and efforts for the 
adoption of the Amendment were renewed by Mr. Fish- 
back in the Legislature of 1883. Through his influence 
it was passed again by that body ^® and re-submitted to 
the people in 1884, when it was ratified, and it thereafter 
became a part of the State Constitution.^'^ It had by this 
time become generally known that the hated New Eng- 
land "Yankee" owned the bonds sold by the State, and 
that fact alone was a sufficient reason with the ignorant 
population of the State for their repudiation. 

By this act they succeeded in nullifying all the efforts 
made by my administration to restore the credit of the 
State. Innocent purchasers were robbed, — people of 
moderate means who, relying upon the honor of a great 



36o THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

State, had Invested their earnings in its securities, — and 
Arkansas was placed forever among the black-listed States 
in the markets of the world. 

This is a strong and sweeping statement, yet the his- 
tory of the State from its admission into the Union in 
1836 down to the present time, exclusive of the period of 
Republican administration, fully justifies the charge of 
procuring loans for the benefit of its individual citizens 
and afterward relieving them of their just liabilities by 
repudiation. 

Henceforth the name of William M. Fishback will 
always be connected with this most disgraceful and un- 
American act, — an act that cast over the annals of the 
State a blot so dark that all the water of the two oceans 
could never wash it away. 

Up to this time I have dealt with the actions of the 
Democrats as a party. I shall now make mention of 
several individuals that occupied high places under the 
Democratic Government. 

Among the ofllicers elected by the Democrats under the 
new State Constitution was ex-Confederate Maj.-Gen. T. 
J. Churchill, Treasurer. He was elected for three suc- 
cessive terms covering from 1874 to January 12, 1881, 
and his six years of service as Treasurer were followed by 
his election in 1881 to the oflfice of Governor. 

Soon thereafter, in spite of all efforts at concealment, 
it leaked out that large defalcations existed in General 
Churchill's accounts as Treasurer. This matter was 
taken up by the Legislature of 1881 and resulted in the 
appointment of a Senate Investigating Committee, This 
Committee made a partial report toward the close of 
that session,^^ but no definite action was taken until Janu- 
ary 20 and 22, 1883, when a joint committee was raised ^^ 
to investigate the accounts of Treasurer Churchill. 

After an examination of the books kept during his 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 361 

first term as Treasurer the joint committee, on February 
26, 1883, made a report to the Legislature setting forth 
in detail the deficit for this term, amounting to $294,- 
876.37, which report was adopted.^^ 

On the 1 6th of March, 1883, the joint committee 
made its report to the Legislature on its investigation of 
the books kept by General Churchill during his second 
term of office, which showed a net balance to his credit 
of $86,097.05. This report was also adopted.^^ 

On the 24th of March, 1883, the joint committee 
made its final report to the Legislature showing in detail 
the shortage existing in General Churchill's accounts for 
his third and last term as Treasurer, which amounted to 
$24,837.57. 

This report set forth that his entire defalcation 
amounted to the appalling sum of $233,616.89, and it 
was adopted by both Houses of the Legislature. In addi- 
tion to this amount it was also shown that there was a 
deficit in the permanent school fund amounting to $50,- 
237.23.22 

Two days thereafter, on March 26, 1883, a concur- 
rent resolution was introduced in the House by Mr. Bar- 
ker, directing Gov. T. J. Churchill to cause suit to be 
brought against the recent Treasurer T. J. Churchill — 
himself, — on his official bond for the recovery of the miss- 
ing school fund, which was read and adopted.^^ It was 
then sent to the Senate, where the resolution was lost. 

So far as the Legislative proceedings and court rec- 
ords show, no decision was made as to the burning of the 
scrip belonging to the permanent school fund, which Gen- 
eral Churchill admitted was burned by him through mis- 
take. 

The law providing for the Burning Board was passed 
by the Democrats on May 28, 1874, and reads as fol- 
lows :2* 



362 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

"The governor, secretary of state, and auditor shall 
be, and they are hereby, constituted a board for the pur- 
pose of examining cancelled scrip, treasurer's certificates, 
warrants, and other securities that may now be in the 
State treasury, or that may hereafter be received and 
borne on the accounts of the auditor and treasurer as 
funds on hand or balances, with authority to count and 
destroy the same by burning or otherwise. 

"Whenever such funds or securities shall accumulate 
in the treasury in sufficient quantity to make it necessary 
or advisable to have the same destroyed, the treasurer 
shall prepare a statement thereof and submit the same to 
the governor, who shall thereupon assemble said board 
for the purpose of examining the funds scheduled or 
stated for examination; and if said board shall find, upon 
a careful and particular count and investigation, that such 
funds are correctly stated and agree in every particular 
with the schedules thereof, said board shall so certify and 
shall thereupon immediately destroy such funds or cause 
the same to be done in their presence; and the certificate 
of said board shall be sufficient authority for the auditor 
to credit the treasurer's account with the amount of funds 
so destroyed." 

It will be seen at once that this act could be used to 
cover any amount of corruption, and it was so used. It 
was disclosed in testimony taken by the joint committee 
that the scrip to be burned was put up in packages and 
scheduled at the will of the Treasurer, and he received 
credit for the amount shown to be burned by the schedule 
prepared by himself. 

This law opened the door for the perpetration of the 
grossest frauds against the State and left no check what- 
ever on the Treasurer. There was absolutely nothing to 
prevent him from giving out to be counted over and over 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 363 

the same identical packages of scrip, talking credit on his 
accounts each time, as once a package had been scheduled 
for burning by the Treasurer it was not investigated by 
any other officer and was burned by clerks without having 
been opened. Therefore any amount of scrip could have 
been extracted from each package by the Treasurer, and 
that fact remain undiscovered. This defaulting officer, 
Churchill, so completely covered his fraud by his manipu- 
lation of the Burning Board that at the expiration of his 
third term as Treasurer his defalcation was not disclosed 
and he was elected to the position of Governor of the 
State. 

After the first report of the joint committee was made 
to the Legislature, while the defaulter Churchill was Gov- 
ernor, as before stated, a concurrent resolution was intro- 
duced in the House directing the Governor to bring suit 
against himself for the deficit shown to exist by the investi- 
gations of the joint committee. This resolution was 
adopted by both Houses; the vote in the Senate was 22 
to o, and it was 79 to o in the House.^^ 

Thus we have the unique situation of a Governor of 
the State being directed by an act of the Legislature to 
have suit instFtuted against himself. Under this resolu- 
tion suit was brought by the Attorney-General on May 
30, 1883, in the Pulaski Chancery Court against T. J. 
Churchill, Governor of Arkansas, and his bondsmen, for 
the amount of his defalcation while Treasurer of the 
State. 

A decree was rendered therein on the nth day of 
February, 1884. On the loth of March, 1884, Thomas 
H. Simms was appointed Special Master by order of the 
court, to state the accounts in the cause. On June 20, 
1884, he reported ^^ that his investigations showed that 
General Churchill's defalcation amounted to $80,522.01, 



364 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

for which sum a judgment was rendered against the 
Democratic Governor of Arkansas. 

The report of Mr. Simms does not show that any 
action was taken to replace the scrip belonging to the per- 
manent school fund, which was burned by mistake. 

I shall now give an illustration of the difference be- 
tween Democratic and Republican methods : 

Col. Henry Page was State Treasurer during the en- 
tire time the Republicans were in power in Arkansas. 
When he resigned on May 20, 1874, his accounts were 
checked and vouchers to the amount of $2,788.46 were 
missing. Although Colonel Page felt certain that they 
would be found, knowing, as he did, his absolute freedom 
from fraud, yet, to protect his bondsmen from loss, he 
deposited that amount of money with the fiscal agent of 
the State, the Union Trust Company of New York, and 
received from the auditor a certificate of non-indebtedness 
to the State. 

Years passed, and when the large defalcations of 
Treasurer Churchill came to light, as above detailed, and 
the joint committee was appointed to investigate his ac- 
counts, it was deemed advisable by them to examine the 
closed accounts of his predecessor. Colonel Page. In 
making this examination all the old cancelled bonds were 
removed from the treasury vault for checking, and the 
envelope containing Treasurer Page's missing vouchers 
was found on the shelf underneath the bonds, where it had 
remained for years. This information was conveyed to 
Colonel Page by Mr. Woodruff, who was then Treasurer 
of the State. 

This envelope contained warrants corresponding ex- 
actly to the amount Colonel Page had deposited with 
the fiscal agent of the State — $2,788.46 — but the State 
has persistently failed to refund Colonel Page's money, 
and that amount is still due him. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 365 

The name of Col. Henry Page, as an honest and 
faithful public official, is held in high esteem by the Re- 
publicans of Arkansas, and will go down into history as 
the Treasurer of the State who came out of office with an 
absolutely clean record. 

Maj. John Crawford was State Auditor and a mem- 
ber of the Burning Board during the greater part of the 
time General Churchill was Treasurer, his term of service 
having been from January, 1877, to January, 1883. Dur- 
ing the investigation of the accounts of Treasurer Church- 
ill it was found that a shortage also existed in the ac- 
counts of Auditor Crawford. A suit was insitituted 
against him in the Pulaski Chancery Court and a judg- 
ment was rendered for the sum of $9,922.09. 

This is the same Major Crawford whom the militia 
pulled out of the loft of a Ku Klux den at Centre Point 
by his heels, as described on page 113. 

After the accession of the Democrats to power in Ar- 
kansas they attacked and destroyed every measure that 
had been advocated or accomplished by the Republicans. 
They repudiated the bonded indebtedness of the State, 
which had been so solemnly approved by the people at 
the polls, and placed in positions of trust men who were 
guilty of the grossest frauds against the State Treasury. 

It may be asked why a party guilty of such abuses 
as I have exposed should have been permitted by the peo- 
ple of a State to remain in power continuously since 1874. 
I answer with the adage: "Possession is nine points of 
the law." The election machinery through which they 
would have to be deposed has been in their hands, and 
they have not hesitated to use it. Their election law is an 
infamous measure providing for a State Board of three 
members, and the Republicans have never been allowed 
any representation thereon. 

I remember one instance when the three officers who 



366 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

composed this State Board of Election Commissioners 
were candidates for re-election, and they counted the votes 
for themselves; and at each election at least one member 
of the Board was also a candidate for re-election to a 
State office. 

In addition to their complete control and manipulation 
of the election machinery, as each biennial election drew 
near in Arkansas some new version of the evils of the 
Reconstruction period was brought forth to distract the 
attention of the voters from the misdeeds of the Demo- 
cratic Party ring, and make it possible for them to 
avoid giving an account of their stewardship. The wild- 
est and most fallacious stories have been told by them. 
That the reader may understand the nature of their per- 
versions, I will give the following illustration: 

While I was serving my country as Ambassador to 
Mexico, Jefferson Davis, who was a candidate for re- 
election to the Governorship of Arkansas, announced, 
without explanation or specification, from the stump to 
large audiences that I had murdered his aunt. This was 
gulped down with great relish by his Ignorant followers. 
Later, to keep himself solid with them, he refused to at- 
tend a banquet given at Little Rock by the Board of 
Trade in honor of President Roosevelt, where by vfrtue 
of my position I was seated at the Presidential table. In 
explanation of his gross lack of courtesy to the President 
he told him that I had murdered his aunt and that he 
could not sit down to a table where I was a guest. 

Soon after the banquet I called on President Roosevelt 
in Washington. He remarked to me In a facetious man- 
ner, "Governor Davis says you murdered his aunt; why 
didn't you murder his uncle?" 

While I was fully aware of the falseness of this ac- 
cusation, I realized that unless it were absolutely proved 
to be false there were those who would believe it. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 367 

Mr. Guy Caron, then the editor of the Republican, 
kindly offered his services and went to the scene of the 
alleged murder to investigate fully all the circumstances. 
From his detailed report, published in the Republican on 
August 17, 1906, I quote as follows: 

"Sitting in the very house where she [the aunt of Jef- 
ferson Davis] died, in conversation with the physician 
who attended her last illness, who was also her husband's 
business partner, this physician, who is still practicing his 
profession in that county, although speaking reluctantly, 
admitted to me that there was no foundation to the 
story of murder, and that no such accusation was ever 
made until very late years, and that he gave it no credence 
whatever. This man is a Democrat and wishes neither 
to embroil himself nor to hurt his party by discussing this 
question, but he could not in fairness refuse to tell me 
the truth that Mrs. Hamilton was in good health when 
the militia left Richmond, and that her death was unex- 
pected both to himself and her husband, who was also a 
physician. 

" 'For some unknown cause puerperal fever set in, to 
the surprise of both myself and Dr. Hamilton, which re- 
sulted very quickly in her death.' Neither of them at 
that time thought of attributing her death to the presence 
of the militia, and Dr. Hamilton was never heard to make 
that charge. ... 

"I talked with every other citizen I could find who in 
1869 was a resident of Richmond and found that without 
exception they corroborate the above statements. These 
old men, who have no selfish interests to pursue, and care 
only for their honor and the truth, all join in asserting 
that Mrs. Hamilton died from causes entirely removed 
from the presence of troops, and that no one accused the 



368 THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

soldiery at the time of the occurrence, when there was the 
most reason for bitter feehng and partisanship. . . ." 

A copy of this statement was sent to Governor Davis. 

Thereafter nothing was heard from him concerning this 
monstrous fabrication. 

This serves as a conspicuous example of the extent 
to which Reconstruction perversions were used by the 
Democrats to divert the attention of the voters from the 
defalcations and maladministration of their public of- 
ficials. In every campaign I requested our speakers to 
devote their time to an exposure of the official misdeeds 
of the Democrats instead of falling Into the trap of de- 
fending me against their vicious attacks. 

But since their advent to power the corrupt malfeas- 
ance of the Democratic party has continued. 

It is plain that the basic principle of good govern- 
ment, which depends on two parties, the "outs" watching 
the "ins," is completely destroyed, and that nobody but 
the members of the Democratic ring of office-holders in 
Arkansas know what is officially going on. 

If for six years Treasurer Churchill could have piled 
up such an immense defalcation without detection, what 
can be expected under the more ironclad opportunities 
which exist there now for official corruption? 

FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XVII 

^Reports of Committees, Nos. i to lOO, 1874-75, Report 
No. 2, pp. 223-7. 

2 Reports of Committees, Nos. loi to 149, 1874-75, Report 
No. 127, p. 9. 

^ Reports of Committees, Nos. loi to 149, 1874-75, Report 
No. 127, p. 9. 

* Reports of Committees, Nos. loi to 149, 1874-75, Report 
No. 127, p. 10. 



CIVIL WAR, IN ARKANSAS 369 

''Reports of Committees, Nos. loi to 149, 1874-75, Report 
No. 127, p. II. 

* Reports of Committees, Nos. loi to 149, 1874-75, Report 
No. 127, p. 12. 

■^Arkansas Laws, 1874-75, p. 162. 

® Report of State Auditor, Arkansas, 1875-76. 

^ Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ar- 
kansas, 1 899-1900, p. 28. 

^° Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ar- 
kansas, 1897-98, pp. 211-12-13. 

^^ 22d Biennial Report of State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, Arkansas, 1911-12, p. 5. 

^2 Arkansas Laws, 1868-69, pp. 147-150. 

^^ Arkansas Laws, Special Session, May, 1874, p. 38. 

^* Arkansas Laws, 1868, p. 151, Sec. 7. 

^' Hempstead's "History of Arkansas," pp. 281-2. 

^^ Arkansas Senate Journal, 1883, PP* 99-100; Arkansas House 
Journal, 1883, pp. 161-2. 

^'^ Arkansas Senate Journal, 1885, P- 53- 

^® Arkansas Senate Journal, 1881, pp. 420-421. 

^^ Arkansas House Journal, 1883, p. 141; Arkansas Senate 
Journal, 1883, p. 132. 

2" Arkansas House Journal, 1883, PP- 573-586. 

2^ Arkansas House Journal, 1883, pp. 821-828. 

^2 Arkansas House Journal, 1883, pp. 964-976. 

^^ Arkansas House Journal, 1883, p. 993. 

2* Arkansas Digest of Statutes, Mansfield, 1884. Sec. 3207-8, 
pp. 674-5. 

2^ Arkansas House Journal, 1883, pp. 588-9; Arkansas Senate 
Journal, 1883, pp. 544-5- 



INDEX 



Act to aid in the Construction of Rail- 
roads, 244, 245, 246, 320, 358. 

Act to Provide for the Funding of the 
Public Debt of the State, 258, 260, 
271, 2Ti, 274. 

Adams, E. W., 156. 

Adams, General, 83. 

Adams, Governor, 252. 

Alabama, 216, 257, 299, 301, 303. 

America, 53, 170, 214. 

American Citizen, 46, 87, 169. 

American Exchange National Bank, 258, 
271. 

American People, 149, 286. 

American Union, 17, 35, 166. 

Anderson, Captain, 122. 

Andrews, Maj. P. J., 69, 99, 100, loi, 
102, 114. 

Ante-bellum, 13, 31, 239. 

Anthony, J. J., 15, 16. 

Arkadelphia, Ark., 22, 48. 

Arkansas, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 2Z, 24, 
2S, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 41. 
42, 46, 50, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 
63, 65, 66, 88, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98, 100, 
102, 105, 109, no, 115, 131, 138, i6i, 
162, 166, 178, 181, 183, 192, 195, 197, 
204, 207, 208, 209, 210, 213, 215, 217, 
218, 224, 230, 231, 233, 234, 235, 240, 
244, 24s, 246, 251, 254, 256, 258, 263, 
268, 270, 273, 273, 276, 278, 282, 283, 
284, 28s, 286, 290, 298, 299, 300, 301, 
302, 303, 304, 30s, 306, 307, 308, 313, 
315. 321, 331, 333. 334. 335. 337, 338, 
343. 344, 345. 346, 354, 355, 359, 360, 
364. 365, 366, 368. 

Arkansas Central Railroad, 357. 

Arkansas County, 67. 

Arkansas Industrial University, 233, 
235. 

Arkansas River, 18, 204, 215, 216, 248, 
296, 301. 

Arkansas Valley, 21, 213, 215. 

Armstead, Enoch, 187. 

Armstrong, Carroll, 191. 

Ashley County, 63, 67, 69, 90. 

Assassination, 51, 61, 64, 68, 70, 73, 88, 
89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 
102, 138, 141, 142, 143, 165, 177, 178, 
186, 187, 189, 190, 269. 

Auditor's Warrants, 231, 232, 297, 353. 

Augusta, Ark., 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 
T24, 125, 128, 130, 132. 

Augusta Sentinel, 124, 217. 

Ayres, Brig.-Gen. R. B., 130, 133. 



Babcock, General, 130. 

Baker, Cullen, in, 114, 115. 

Baker Gang, 99, 100. 

Ball, Jordan A., 70. 

Barker, Hon. E. G., 70, 89, 90, 128, 135, 

136, 137- 
Barton, J. McL., 302. 
Batesville, Ark., 18, 22, 83, 120. 
Battle, B. B., 320. 
Baxter, Hon. Elisha, 29, 284, 346, 347, 

348, 349, 351, 352, 355- 
Beaumont, Col. S. B., 139, 140. 
Bellows, J. T., 180, 181. 
Benjamin, M. W., 301. 
Bentley, George, 150, 151, 162, 163. 
Bentley, Ollie, 188, 189, 190. 
Benton County, 36, 66, 214. 
Berry, Capt. Charles E., 263, 264. 
Berry, Hon. J. R., 257, 270, 299. 
Bethel, George J., 178, 182. 
Bethel, R. C, 178. 
Biscoe, Cameron N., 95, 96. 
Bishon, Adj.-Gen. A. W., 18, 233. 
Bliss, C. C, 28. 
Boles, Hon. Thomas, 329, 335. 
Boston, Mass., 208, 209, 289. 
Bowdrie, A. R., 188. 
Bowen, Hon. Thomas M., 244, 245, 247, 

300, 337. 
Bradley, Dr. A. R., 189. 
Bradley County, 63, 67, 249. 
Bradley, Howell, 88. 
Brayman, Gen. M., 44, 241, 242. 
Breckinridge, Clifton R., 154, 184, 186, 

187, 190, 191, 192, 193. 
Breeden, Pompey O., 162. 
Brian, Capt. W. M., 123, 125. 
Brinkley, R. C, 240. 
Brooks-Baxter War, 349, 355. 
Brooks, Hon. Joseph, 70, 86, 96, 97, 98, 

99, 315, 329, 344, 346, 347, 348, 349. 

352. 
Brown, Gov. Gratz, 315. 
Brundidge, William, 76, 78, 80, 81, 82, 

88. 
Bryant, Captain, 91. 
Buford, Federal Brig.-Gen., 19. 
Burks, Capt. H. C, 117, 118. 
Burning Board, 361, 362, 363, 365. 
Burrow, LeRoy, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 

84, 85, 86, 88. 
Burrow, Rankin & Co., 152, 153. 
Bush, B. F., 294. 
Butler, Hon. James A., 73, 74, 



371 



372 



INDEX 



Cairo and Fulton Railroad, 44, 238, 240, 

241. 
Caldwell, Hon. Henry C, 202, 203. 
Calhoun County, 66, 320. 
California, 191, 192, 197, 213. 
Camden, Ark., 60, 248. 
Cameron, Senator, 340. 
Canada, 86, 303. 
Capitol, State, 14, 103, 116. 
Carpetbag, 266, 285, 290, 298. 
Carpet-bagger, 209, 267, 269, 298, 303, 

304, 30s, 308. 
Carroll County, 66. 
Casey, James M., 154, 155, 156, 161, 

162. 
Gate, Judge, 184, 185. 
Catterson, Brig.-Gen. R. F., 66, 11 1, 

112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 144, 165, 315, 

343- 
Centre Point, Ark., in, 112, 113, 114, 

132, 365. 
Chicot, Ark., 294, 295. 
Chicot County, Ark., 67. 
Chinese laborers, 208, 212, 213, 214. 
Chrisman, Maj. F. M., 74, 75, 81, 300. 
Churchill, Gen. T. J., 270, 360, 361, 

363, 364. 36s, 368. 
Circuit or district superintendents, 47, 

74, 222, 225, 226, 229, 230, 231, 232, 

300. 
Civil law, 87, 121, 124, 126, 131, 133, 

137, 164. 
Civil War, 17, 23, 39, 58, 91, 95, 109. 

Ill, 126, 129, 131, 132, 147, 148, 158, 

159. 167, 168, 171, 172, 177, 207, 223, 

239, 282, 283, 284, 299, 300, 301, 302, 

304, 305, 306, 347- 
Clarendon, Ark., 97, 138. 
Clark County, 22, 23, 66, 319. 
Clark, George W., 97, 99. 
Clark, Sol F., 85, 87. 
Clarksville, Ark., 200, 215. 
Clayton, John M., 154, 184, 186, 187, 

189, 190, 191, 192, 249, 250, 310. 
Clayton, Gov. Powell, 49, 65, 74, 97, 

119, 121, 123, 139, 175, 184, 202, 215, 

234, 241, 246, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 

263, 265, 2(>T, 269, 271, 272, 273, 275, 

279, 298, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 

325, 326, 327. 334. 335, 336, 338, 339, 

340, 341, 345- 
Clayton, Judge Thomas J., 249, 250. 
Clayton, Judge W. H. H., 142, 143, 299, 

306. 
Clendenin, Judge J. J., 172. 
Collier, Clarence, 17s, 177, 178, 179, 

180, 181, 182. 
Columbia County, 63, 66, 69, 320. 
Commander-in-chief, 41, 65, dj, 107, 

165. 
Common School Fund, 46, 222, 224, 229. 
Confederacy, 18, 22, 29, 59, 172, 282. 
Confederate Army, 18, 61, dz, 78, 85, 

89, 167, 300, 302. 
Confederate soldiers, 60, 109, 167, 173. 
Confederates, 17, 35, 172, 347. 
Congress, United States, 25, 27, 28, 

30, 31, 32, 70, 96, 97, 106, 107, 125, 

166, 170, 171, 185, 187, 221, 233, 234, 



23s, 273, 290, 310, 329, 330, 331, 335, 

337, 339, 342, 343-. 
Congressional Investigating Committee, 

184, 189, 191, 192. 
Conley, W. L., 159, 160. 
Conscription, Confederate, 18, no, 283. 
Constitution, State, 17, 21, 28, 34, 41, 

44, 46, 50, 51, 53, 67, 148, 196, 22s, 

2iT, 255, 261, 262, 306, 312, 313, 316, 

317, 318, 319, 320, 351, 352, 353, 358, 

359, 360. 
Constitution, United States, 64, 169, 

170. 
Constitutional amendment, 250, 313, 

315, 317, 318, 358, 359- 
Constitutional Convention, State, 19, 20, 

21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 55, 172, 

285, 289, 316, 3S2, 353. 
Conway County, 66, 70, 144, 149, 150, 

151, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 

162, i63j 175, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191. 
Conway, Governor, 254, 256. 
Cook, George B., 35s, 356. 
Cotton, Lieutenant, 112. 
County seats, 19, 205, 292. 
Craighead County, 63, 66, 70, 119, 124, 

130, 291. 
Crawford County, 18, 66. 
Crawford, Maj. John, 112, 270, 365. 
Crittenden County, 66, 70, 90, 126, 127, 

128, 129, 130, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 

140, 163, 175, 176, 177, 181, 182, 183, 

184, 185. 
Cross County, 66. 
Crump, B. C., 141. 
Crutchfield, S. M., 123. 

Dallas County, 66. 

Danforth, Adj. -Gen. Keyes, 58, 62, 67, 
75, 76, 119, 121, 205, 291. 

Davis, Gov. Jefferson, 366, 367, 368. 

Defalcations, 270, 360, 361, 363, 364, 
368. 

Demby, Col. J. H., in, 112, 118. 

Democracy, 86, 98, 195, 229, 241, 265, 
281, 295, 309, 332. 

Democratic, 30, 31, 34, 61, 83, 86, 89, 91, 
145, 151, 183, 187, 191, 192, 196, 201, 
207, 209, 213, 217, 268, 269, 279, 282, 
285, 287, 304, 316, 331, 333, 339, 351, 
364. 

Democratic counties, 304, 305. 

Democratic government, 232, 360. 

Democratic leaders, 96, 166, 261. 

Democratic National Convention, 17, 35, 
166, 344. 

Democratic Party, 17, 34, 35, 51, 58, 88, 
96, 98, 143, 166, 190, 231, 239, 281, 
28s, 306, 315, 344, 347, 348, 357, 366, 
368. 

Democratic press or papers, 90, 197, 
202. 

Democrats, 17, 29, 52, 53, 82, 85, 86, 
93, 97, 127, 152, 184, 195, 196, 209, 
223, 233, 239, 240, 269, 280, 297, 306, 
309. 310, 314, 315, 324, 335, 343. 346, 
347. 349, 351. 353, 356, 359, 360, 361, 
365, 368. 

Desha Covmty, 66, 67. 



INDEX 



373 



DeVall's Bluff, Ark., 18, 84, 90, 119. 

Disfranchise, 50, 51, 96, 269. 
Disfrancfiisement, 51, 59, 313, 316, 317, 

351. 
District of Arkansas, 34, 100, 172, 202, 

290. 
Dorsey, Senator, 342. 
Dowell, Gilbert, 177, 180. 
Drew County, 21, 67, 70, 116, 118, 841, 

320. 
Drew, Governor, 253, 
Duke, S. A., 118. 

Eagan, Colonel, 155, 160. 

Eagle, Governor, 190, 191, 192, 193, 

278. 
Earle, Maj. J. F., 141. 
Education, 45, 46, 47, 220, 223, 224, 

225, 226, 230, 231, 232, 23s, 355. 
Educational interests, 45, 46, 47, 224, 

225, 226. 
Edwards, Captain, 70. 
Edwards, John, 329, 330, 331, 333, 334, 

335, 339. 
Edwards, William L., 76, 80, 82. 
Eldorado, Ark., 60, 201. 
Election, 25, 28, 30, 31, 37, 41, 44, 51, 

52, 53, 58, 71, 85, 86, 148, 184, 187, 

188, 189, 232, 237, 265, 267, 268, 329, 

330, 331. 335, 339, 347, 348, 3SI, 352, 

353, 358, 366. 
Election frauds, 330, 343. 
Election Law, 41, 365. 
Elective franchise, 41, 312, 313, 316. 
Electors, 40, 41, 54, 148, 269, 312. 
Emancipation, 21, 169, 171. 
English, Judge, 300. 
Eureka Springs, Ark., 249, 271. 
Ex-Confederate soldiers, 31, 50, 117, 

172. 
Executive, 48, 49, 64, 67, 106, 107, 164, 

251, 254, 255, 266, 267, 291, 339. 
Executive chair, 231, 267, 269, 270, 315, 

316. 
Executive office, 15, 102, 124, 243, 261, 

266. 

Fagan, Gen. James J., 83, 142, 143. 
Faulkner, Col. Sandy, 144. 
Fayetteville, Ark., 18, 22, 233, 235. 
Featherstone, Colonel, 185. 
Federal Army, 13, 78, no, 159, 300, 

306, 347. 
Federal officers, 343, 345. 
Federal troops, 22, 23, 203. 
Federal Union, 46, 224. 
Fiscal agent of state, 258, 259, 271, 

364- 
Fishback, William M., 19, 25, 29, 282, 

283. 284, 285, 287, 289, 292, 293, 294, 

296, 298, 304, 305, 306, 307, 358, 360. 
Fitzpatrick, C. B., 302. 
Flanigan, Gov. H., 172. 
Forrest, Gen. N. B., 58, 59, 60, 83, 

136. 
Fort Smith, Ark., 18, 19, 129. 
Franklin County, 66, 263. 
Freedmen's Bureau, 91, 100, 102, 135, 
137, 229. 



FroHck, Col. Jacob, 76, yj, 78, 79, 80, 

82, 83, 8s, 86, 87. 
Fulton County, 51, 66, 70, 90, 91, 121. 
Fulton, E. A., 241, 242, 320. 
Funding, 251, 257, 261, 270, 274, 276, 

277, 280. 
Funding bonds, 234, 276, 279, 280, 359. 

Gantt, Gen. E. W., 76, 302. 

Garland, Hon. A. H., 144, 149, 353, 358. 

Gauze, Hon. C. L., 124, 125. 

Gazette, or Democratic organ, 51, 53, 
54, 59, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 
114, 149, 150, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 
160, 163, 167, 182, 196, 197, 207, 208, 
213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 229, 238, 
240, 241, 242, 259, 260, 261, 264, 278, 
287, 295, 302, 303, 304, 307, 308, 309, 
312, 314, 359. 

General Assembly, Arkansas, 38, 46, 
54, 67, io6, 144, 163, 221, 224, 244, 
251, 255, 257, 302, 304, 313, 317, 319, 
320, 326, 339, 354, 358. 

General government, 29, 35, 36, 44, 65, 
106, 143, 221, 233, 237, 316. 

Georgia, 216, 303. 

Gibbons, Capt. John J., 154, 155, iS7, 
158, 159, 161, 163. 

Gillam, Rev. W. H., 300. 

Gordan, Anderson, 153, 156, 161. 

Gordan, James M., 156, 159. 

Gordan, Lydia A., 156, 160, 161. 

Gouge, William M., 256. 

Government, United States, 32, 68, 88, 
106, 109, 132, 137, 169, 274, 278. 

Governor, of Arkansas, 14, 28, 31, 37, 
57, 64, 81, 108, 119, 123, 124, 128, 
129, 140, 141, 142, 143, 163, 202, 203, 
204, 242, 243, 246, 256, 257, 258, 261, 
262, 266, 267, 268, 269, 273, 276, 280, 
285, 290, 291, 292, 298, 319, 320, 321, 
322, 323, 324, 325, 327, 333, 335, 339, 
346, 347, 348, 353, 356, 359, 360, 363, 
364. 

Granger, General, 129. 

Grant, Gen. U. S., 130, 204, 292, 348. 

Gray, Captain, 154, 156. 

Greene County, 64, 66, 119, 124, 130, 
291. 

Greenlaw, W. R., 140. 

Gregg, Lafayette, 301. 

Griffith, E. R., 114, 115. 

Gubernatorial office, 269, 270. 

Habeas corpus, 76, 85, 87, 105, 181. 
Hadley, Hon. O. A., 144, 270, 332, 333. 
Hanks, Hon. James M., 234, 235. 
Haynes, Capt. A. J., 127, 135, 137, 175, 

176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182. 
Haynes. Lieut. Thomas, 118. 
Hazeldine, Captain, loi. 
Helena, Ark., 17, 18, 18, 91, 92, 94, 95, 

96, 126, 128, 130, 137, 176, 234. 
Helena Clarion, 183, 217. 
Helena Monitor, 93, 183, 201. 
Hempstead County, 60, 66, in, 320. 
Henderson, E. E., 300. 
Hervey, T. C, 187, 188. 
Hicks, Aaron, 69, 79, 80. 



374 



INDEX 



Highlands, 21, 22, 23. 

Hindman, Gen. T. C., 91, 92, 93, 94, 

95, 96. 
Hinds, Hon. James M., 70, 96, 97, 98, 

99- 
Hitchcock, Senator, 331, 332. 
Hobbs, W. T., 187, 188. 
Hodges, James L., 329, 337. 
Hodges and Weeks, 106, 107. 
Holford bonds, 258, 259, 260, 278, 289, 

358. 
Holland, John G., 76, 80, 82. 
Hooper, Thomas, 153, 154, 191. 
Hot Spring County, 66, 320. 
Hot Springs, Ark., 289. 
Howard, Robert A., 195, 320. 
Howard, William, 156, 157. 
Humphries, Ban, 62, 70, 81, 88, 89. 
Hunter, Judge, 140. 
Huntsville, Ark., 263. 

Illinois, 106, 282, 300, 303. 
Immigrants, 43, 200, 207, 209, 214, 215, 

216, 217, 218, 219. 

Immigration, 41, 42, 43, 200, 207, 208, 

209, 210, 211, 213, 215, 216, 217, 

218, 219. 

Bureau of^ 42, 210. 

Chinese immigration, 208, 212, 213. 

Commissioner of, 42, 198, 210, 299. 

Impeachment, 261, 262, 270, 319, 321, 

322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328. 
Impeachment, Articles of, 241, 262, 321, 

322, 325, 326. 
Inaugural ceremony, 14, 15. 
Incendiary fires, 151, 154. 
Indebtedness, state bonded, 44, 251, 257, 
270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 278, 279, 281, 
365. 
Independence County, 22, 23, 58, 66, 77, 

217, 320. 

Indian Bay, Ark., 96, 97, 99. 
Indian Territory, 115, 143. 
Indiana, 302, 303. 
Indictments, 335, 339, 343. 
Innian, W. A., 302. 
Institute for the Blind, Ark., 48, 198. 
Investigating Committee, Senatorial, 332, 
338 
Appointment of, 337. 
Majority report of, 337, 338, 339, 

340. 
Resolution of, 340, 342. 
Adoption of majority report and 

resolution, 342. 
Minority report of, 340, 342. 
Investigation, senatorial, 329, 331, 336, 

337. 338, 343. 346, 349. 
Iowa, 136, 300, 301. 
Ixard County, 66. 

Jackson County, 66, 77, 122, 123, 124, 

125. 
Jackson, Capt. James A., 117, 118. 
Jacksonport, Ark., 122, 123, 124. 
Jefferson County, 20, 67. 
Johnson, Dr. A. M., 73, 74. 

Johnson County, 66, 200. 
ohnson, Lieut.-Gov. James M., 28, 261, 



262, 263, 264, 26s, 269, 299, 315, 316, 

319, 327, 331. 332. 
Johnson, President, 30, 106, 145. 
Jones, Lieut. B. Y., 123. 
Jurors, 54, 162. 

Kentucky, 303. 

Knights of the White Camelia, 64, 141. 

Ku Klux, 56, 59, 62, 63, 69, 70, 71, 81, 
88, 99, 102, 104, 105, 108, 109, 113, 
116, 117, 122, 123, 124, 127, 135, 137, 
J39, 149. 150, 151, 152, 153. 154. 163, 
178, 185, 196, 204, 205, 308, 309, 349- 

Ku Klux £)emocracy, 198, 308. 

Ku Klux den, 58, 60, 63, 78, 220, 365. 

Ku Klux Klan, 34, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 
64, 73. 77, 84, 85, 87, 93, 109, 112, 
115, n6, 117, 124, 140, 142, 143, 166, 
183. 

Ku Klux organization, 57, 58, 59, 68, 
80, 87, 99, 104, 105, III, 125, 137, 
173- 

Lafayette County, 63, 66, 69, 114, 164, 
305. 

Lawrence County, 66, 122. 

Legislature, Arkansas, 15, 28, 29, 31, 
32, 34. 38, 46, 48, 54. 56. 67, 72, 98, 
106, 107, 116, 144, 163, 202, 209, 210, 
223, 226, 227, 233, 237, 244, 250, 251, 
252, 253, 25s, 256j 257, 258, 260, 262, 
266, 270, 271, 279, 283, 285, 290, 291, 
302, 303)^ 304, 316, 317, 318, 319. 320, 
326, 329, 330, 331, 335, 339, 348, 351, 
352, 353, 354j 357. 358, 359; 36o, 361, 
363. 

Levee bonds, 293, 296, 358. 

Lewis, Dr. J. M., 106, 198, 244,247, 299. 

Lewis, John P., 78, 79, 80. 

Lewisburg, Ark., 18, 144, 145, 150, 151, 
152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 
161, 162, 163. 

Liberal Republican National Convention, 
.344. 345- 

Liberal Republican Party, 344, 346. 

Liberal Republican State Convention, 
.344- 

Lieutenant-Governor, 28, 261, 262, 267, 
319, 332. 

Lincoln, President, 21, 24, 26, 27, 170. 

Little River County, 63, 66, 69, loi. 

Little Rock, Ark., 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 36, 
53. 57, 58, 60, 62, 65, 66, 75, 76, 81, 
84, 85, 92, 93, 98, 100. 107, 108, 113, 
115, 116, 119, 124, 128, 138, 139, 149, 
ISO, 184, 190, 19s, 197, 198, 199, 235, 
239, 241, 246, 248, 249, 258, 261, 263, 
264, 265, 266, 273, 282, 285, 290, 299, 
301, 344, 356, 366. 

Little Rock Democrat, 272, 273, 276. 

Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, 
238, 240, 259, 260. 

Little Rock and Helena Railroad, 238. 

Little Rock, Mississippi River and Texas 
Railroad, 239, 247, 295. 

Little Rock and Napoleon Railroad, 239. 

Little Rock, Pine Bluff and New Or- 
leans Railroad, 238, 239, 242, 243, 244, 
245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 293, 294, 296. 



INDEX 



375 



Louisiana, 64, 115, 131, 211, 257, 303. 
Lowlands, 21, 22, 23. 
Loyal League, 82, 89, 91, 98. 
Loyal People. 19, 64, 71, 267, 284. 
Loyal State Government, 19, 26, 313. 

Madison, Ark., 126, 127. 

Madison County, 66, 262, 263, 264, 299. 

Main, Col. E. M., 89, 127, 129, 134, 
176. 

Maine, 302. 

Mallory, Col. S. W., 66, 67, 116, 118, 
144, 24s, 246, 291, 321. 

Marion, Ark., 127, 128, 130, 133, 134, 
135. 138, 139, 177, 179, 180, 181, 185. 

Marion County, 66. 

Markham, K. T., 145, 150, 152, 156, 
157, 158. 

Martial law, 63, 65, 66, 67, 72, 82, 87, 
105, 106, 108, no. III, 113, 115, 116, 
118, 119, 124, 125, 127, 129, 132, 133, 
13s, 140, 144, IS3, IS4, 163, 164, 165, 
166, 17s, 186, 19s, 196, 197, 202, 203, 
204, 20s, 268, 290, 291, 292. 

Maryland, 53, 301. 

Mason, Capt. Simpson, 51, 70, 90, 91. 

Massachusetts, 299, 303. 

Matthews, Captain, 152, 153, 154, 156. 

McCauly, John, 74, 76, "jt, 84, 85. 

McClung, John, 178, 179, 180. 

McClure, F. A., 51, 70, 122. 

McClure, John, 244, 245, 246, 301, 
337. 

McConnell, W. H., 340, 341, 342. 

McGanock, Dr., 129. 

McRae, Gen. Dandridge, 76, tj, 79, 82, 
83, 86, 87, 349- 

Meeks, Joseph A., 324. 

Memphis Appeal, 53, 91, 128, 179, 181, 
182, 183. 

Memphis Avalanche, 92, 128. 

Memphis Ledger, 181. 

Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, 127, 
238, 240, 250, 292, 294, 320, 356. 

Memphis Post, 139, 177. 

Memphis, Tenn., 29, 32, 33, 58, 59, 76, 
83, 90, 107, 127, 129, 130, 137, 138, 
139, 142, 143, 177, 178, 179, 182, 183, 
213, 216. 

Mexico, 9^ 250, 366. 

Michigan, 46, 224, 303. 

Military commission, 87, 113, 114, 117, 
118, 128, 138, 139, 153. 

Military districts, 66, 119, 137. 

Militia law, 106, 148. 

Militia, state, 28, 40, 41, 63, 66, 67, 
loi, 106, 108, no, 112, 113, 116, 121, 
126, 128, 130, 132, 133, 139, 140, 144, 
148, 153, iss, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 
165, 178, 179, 183, 191, 202, 21S, 291, 
365, 367. 

Militia operations, 61, 116, 121, 126, 291. 

Miller, Mr. Justice, 203. 

Miller, William R., 256. 

Mills, C. B., 270, 272, 273, 276, 278, 
279, 280. 

Mills, Isaac, 343. 

Minor, Charles, 324. 

Mississippi, 140, 268. 



Mississippi County, 63, 66, 128, 129, 

130, 133- 
Mississippi River, 29, 168, 177, 178, 

239, 240, 247, 294, 296, 310. 
Mississippi, Ouachita and Red River 

Railroad, 238, 239, 242, 247, 248, 249, 

293, 294, 296, 320, 326, 332, 357. 
Missouri, 18, 74, 129, 303, 315. 
Monks, Lieut. -Col. William, 122, 127, 

128, 129, 134. 
Monroe County, 66, 70, 96, 97, 99. 
Montgomery County, 66, 216, 320. 
Montgomery, Atty.-Gen. John R., 299. 
Monticello, Ark., 60, 116, 117, 118, 204, 

205. 
Morgan, Stokeley, 117, 118. 
Morrill, Senator, 337. 
Morrillton, Ark., 187. 
Mound City, Ark., 177, 181. 
Mower, Gen. J. A., 202. 
Murfreesboro, Ark., in, 112. 
Murphy Government, 17, 26, 28, 29, 30, 

31, no, 172, 223, 283, 284. 
Murphy, Gov. Isaac, 14, 15, 16, 25, 28, 

31, 34, 282. 
Mysterious stranger, 57, 58, 61, 62, 149. 

Nashville, Tenn., 29, 112. 

Neal, C. B., 324. 

Nebraska, 331. 

Negro domination, 116, 307, 308, 309, 

310. 
Negro population, 98, 307, 308, 310. 
Negroes, 14, 27, 53, 61, 70, 73, 88, 89, 

93, 94, 98, 102, los, 147, 149, 150, 

151, 154, 163, 168, 180, 197, 20s, 208, 

214, 288, 308, 309, 310. 
Neill, Bvt.-Brig.-Gen. Thomas H., 131. 
New Hampshire, 303. 
New Memphis Theater, 139, 141. 
New Mexico, 277. 
New Orleans, 33, 131, 248, 296. 
New,foa County, 66. 
New York, 242, 244, 248, 258, 261, 262, 

263, 266, 27IJ 273, 275, 277, 278, 279, 

289, 303, 326. 
Night riders, 56, 105, 135, 308. 
North Carolina, 303. 
Norwood, Senator, 337, 340. 

October speech, 312, 315, 316, 317. 

Ohio, 301, 303. 

Oklahoma, 143, 144. 

Oliver, Col. W. S., 144. 

Ord, Bvt.-Maj.-Gen. E. O. C, 34. 

Order of the White Man, 59. 

Orr, Thomas, 114. 

Osceola, Ark., 74. 

Ouachita County, 66. 

Padgett, W. B., 319, 320. 

Page, Col. Henry, 270, 271, 272, 274, 

275, 278, 299, 364, 365. 
Page, Hon. J. R., 302. 
Palmer, William, 187, 188. 
Parker, Albert H., 62, 63, 74, 75, 76, 

80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 87, 349. 
Parker, David B., 62. 
Patterson, W. K., 125. 



376 



INDEX 



Peabody Educational Fund, 229. 
Peak, Thomas C, 259, 260, 261. 
Pennsylvania, 303, 340 341. 
Permanent school fund, 353, 354, 355, 

361, 364. 
Perry County, 66, 160. 
Philadelphia, Pa., 342, 345. 
Phillips County, 19, 66, 126, 310. 
Picket, Col. A. C, 123, 124, 125. 
Pike, Gen. Albert, 53. 
Pike County, 66. 
Pine Bluff, Ark., 17, 18, 31, 56, 116, 

215, 235, 247, 249, 294, 295, 296, 302. 
Plummerville, Ark., 150, i86, 187, 189, 

190. 
Poinsett County, 66. 
Poland Committee, 348. 
Polk County, 66, 320. 
Poor's Manual of Railroads, 240. 
Pope County, 66, iii, 150. 
Porter, Charles, 92, 93. 
Porter, Gen. Horace, 130, 204, 292. 
Prairie County, 66, 84, 215. 
Presidential campaign, 143, 286, 309. 
Prigmore, Capt. George, 116, 118. 
Provisional government, 24, 26, 28, 29, 

35- 
Provisional legislature, 17, 34, 35. 
Pulaski County, 20, 66, 75, 98, 307, 320, 

329, 343- 

Radical Party, 54, 85, 89, 90, 92, 97, 

98, 99, 287, 288. 
Radical press, 90, 269. 
Radical rule, 266, 267. 
Radicalism, 92, 265, 267. 
Radicals, 52, 81, 88, 89, 92, 95, 97, 98, 

268, 287. 
Railroad aid bonds, 238, 239, 242, 243, 

244. 245, 246, 250, 289, 293, 294, 

29s, 320, 326, 332, 356, 3S7, 358. 
Railroad Bill, 42, 237, 239, 240, 243, 

246, 247, 292, 3S7. 

Railroad companies, 237, 238, 239, 243, 

247, 248, 250, 266, 292, 295, 296, 356, 
357. 

Railroads, 40, 43, 44, 197, 199, 239, 240, 

241, 242, 247, 249, 259, 266, 294, 297, 

326, 332. 
Randolph County, 15, 66. 
Rankin County, 156, 158, 159. 
Real Estate Bank, 16, 251, 252, 253, 

254. 25s, 256, 257, 258, 274, 275. 
Rebellion, 26, 29, 38, 50, 65, 147, 149, 

161, 171, 312, 316. 
Rebels, 27, 36, 70, 89, 108, 122, 140, 

141, 177, 291, 292. 
Reconstruction, 29, 95, 96, 172, 203, 

273. 275, _ 285, 286, 292, 366, 368. 
Reconstruction measures of Congress, 

14, 17, 29, 32, 34, 35, 37, so, 166, 265, 

300, 302, 306. 
Rector, Gov. Henry M., 46, 221, 222, 

223, 224. 
Reed, Charles C, 187. 
Reeves, Captain, 112. 
Reeves, "Fed," 117. 
Registered voters, 46, 50, 224, 346. 
Registrars, 50, 51, 69, 351. 



Registration, 41, 50, 51, 64, 69, 70, 90, 
91, 147, 148, 269, 316, 330, 351, 352. 

Remmel, Hon. H. L., 307. 

Republican administration, 252, 314, 360. 

Republican counties, 304, 305. 

Republican, The Daily, 56, 86, 99, 124, 
144, 151, 155, 161, 208, 215, 241, 
259, 260, 263, 302, 367. 

Republican National Committee, 307, 
345. .346. 

Republican National Convention, 345. 

Republican Party, 35, 142, 204, 211, 
233, 262, 268, 270, 286, 287, 292, 313, 
315. 331. 343, 345. 346, 347- 

Republican press, 197, 269. 

Republican rule, 240, 298, 353. 

Republican State Convention, 285. 

Republicans, 31, 61, 88, 93, 94, 95, 96, 
102, 127, 140, 152, 184, 208, 217, 262, 
265, 268, 270, 281, 284, 310, 312, 315, 
318, 328, 347, 348, 349, 351, 352, 353, 
356, 364. 365. 

Repudiation, 285, 359, 365. 

Reynolds, Prof. John H., 19, 22. 

Reynolds, Gen. J. J., 109, 172. 

Rice, B. F., 98, 301, 343, 344, 345, 349. 

Richmond, Ark., 101, 102, 367. 

Roane, Captain, 154, 156, 159. 

Roane, Governor, 253. 

Robertson, Capt, A. W., 123. 

Rocky Comfort, Ark., 100, loi, 114. 

Roosevelt, President, 366. 

Rousseau, Colonel, 130. 

Royston, Grandison D., 16. 

Russell, D. B., 160. 

Russell, James W., 80, 82, 83, 88. 

Ryan, Col. A. H., 247, 248. 

Ryan, Col. James, 144. 

Saline County, 16, 23, 66. 
Schaurte, Colonel, 122. 
Schofield, Gen. John M., 108. 
Schoolhouses, 198, 199, 220, 228, 229, 

230. 
School law, 230, 231. 
School system, 46, 47, 48, 221, 226, 229, 

230, 231. 
School teachers, 46, 47, 224, 226, 227, 

228, 230, 231, 232. 
Schools, 47, 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 

232. 
Schools, common, 45, 46, 221, 222, 223, 

224, 229, 254. 
Schools, free, 22, 45, 46, 221, 222, 223, 

224, 229, 230, 231, 266, 353. 
Schools, public, 222, 229, 300, 355. 
Scott, C. G., 240. 
Scott County, 66, 320. 
Scott, Senator, 334, 336, 342. 
Searcy, Ark., 74, 77, 79, 81, 88, 89. 
Searcy County, 66. 

Searcy Ku Klux den, 75, 76, 82, 83. 
Searchy White County Record, 76, 77, 

86. 
Searle, Judge, 99, 100. 
Sebastian County, 18, 66, 282, 285. 
SecessioUj 28, 31, 62, 169, 170, 172, 282. 
Secessionists, 17, 169, 282. 
Secret agents, 61. 62, 63. 



INDEX 



377 



Secretary of Interior, U. S., 234, 235' 
Secretary of State, Ark., 28, 65, 221, 

222, 243, 266, 267, 298, 299, 304, 326, 

329, 330, 331. 
Secretary of War, U. S., 108, 202. 
Senatorial election, 314, 315, 316, 328, 

331. 333, 339- 

Senter, Governor, 270, 3 IS, 332. 
Sevier County, 63, 66, 69, iii. 
Sevi^ell, William, 78, 79, 80, 84. 
Sharp County, 66, 122. 
Shaver, Gen. R. G., 59, 60, 61, 123, 

124. 
Sickels, Jackson E., 244, 247, 248, 332. 
Simms, Thomas H., 363, 364. 
Slave-holders, 22, 102, 167, 168, 169, 

220, 222, 347. 
Slave-holding regime, 30, 217. 
Slavery, 28, 38, 169, 170, 171, 172. 
Slayton, John W., 124, 125. 
Smith, Gen. C. H., 204, 290, 291, 292. 
Smith. D. J., 320. 
Smith, Gen. E. Kirby, 108. 
Smith, Gen. James F., 60. 
Smith, Dr. Thomas, 95, 227, 229, 230, 

231, 299. 
Southall, Dr. J. H., 136. 
South Carolina, 303- 
Standal, Mr., Sheriff of Little River 

County, 100, loi, 102. 
State aid, 44, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 

242, 246, 297. 
State Aid Bill, 42, 237, 239, 240, 243, 

246, 247, 292, 356. 
State aid bonds, 238, 239, 242, 243, 244, 

24s, 246, 250, 293, 294, 29s, 320, 326, 

332, 356, 357, 358. 

State aid to railroads, 237, 250, 251, 

266, 332, 356. 
State authorities, 91, 104, 146. 
State Bank of Arkansas, 234, 251, 256, 

257, 258, 274, 275. 
State bonds, 246, 251, 252, 254, 256, 

257, 258, 259, 266, 267, 270, 271, 272, 

273, 274, 27s, 277, 278, 279, 280, 289, 

292, 293. 
State canvass, 36. 37, 74. 
State Central Committee, 52, 307, 344, 

349- 
State convention, 310, 344, 346. 
State's credit, 40, 44, 237, 241, 242, 

251, 255, 256, 259, 359. 
State government, 13, 24, 25, 26, 33, 40, 

44, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 78, 110, 113, 

132, 146, 149, 165, 166, 173. 19s. 196, 

20s, 212, 218, 219, 23s, 261, 26s, 266, 

268, 269, 290, 298, 303, 306, 313, 316, 

349, 353. 
State guards, 63, 65, 66, 67, 70, 91, 117, 

156, 290. 
State House, 13, 14, 15, 49. 184, 3oi, 

352. 
State officers, 28, 61, 86, 113, 298, 353, 

355- 
State scrip, 231, 232, 353, 362, 363. 
State troops, 121, 134, 135, 137, 176. 
Steele, Major-Gen eral, 24, 25, 26, 27, 

29. 
Stephenson, Judge, 95. 



Steven, Dr. H. K., 217. 

St. Francis County, 66, 126, 127, 129. 

St. Francis River, 127, 240. 

St. Louis, Mo., 94. 

Sumner, Senator Charles, 26. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

47, 95, 221, 227, 299, 3S5. 
Supreme Court, Arkansas, 244, 245, 246, 

319, 329. 330, 335. 339. 348. 

Temple, N. J., 302. 

Tennessee, 29, 59, 213, 216, 217, 257, 

268, 270, 303, 309, 315, 332. 
Texas, 62, 64, 76, 81, 109, 115, 211, 214, 

268. 
Thayer, Gen. J. M., 25. 
Thomas, Dr. A. D., 150. 
Thompson, F. M., 320. 
Thompson, Woodville E., 221, 223, 230. 
Thorn, Attorney-General, 140. 
Tourtelotte, Col. J. E., 100. 
Townsend, Jake, 99, 100. 
Texas vs. White, 35, 166. 

Unconditional Union, The, 19, 283, 284. 
Union, 24, 26, 38, 68, 172, 217, 221, 234, 

251, 282, 283, 360. 
Union Army, 18, 22, 136, 299. 
Union County, 66, 201. 
Unionists, 19, 282. 
Union men, 18, 24, 35, 69, 70, 72, 75, 

no, 176, 283, 284. 
Union soldiers, 13, no, 167. 
Union Trust Company of New York, 

271, 272, 278, 279, 280, 364. 
United States, 50, 65, 81, 107, 128, 170, 

171, 173, 188, 189, 217, 234, 238, 250, 

256, 274, 335, 354- 
United States Army, 100, 204, 290, 292, 

298. 
United States Census, 220, 222, 229, 

307. 
United States Court, 188, 189, 331, 356. 
United States Senate, 18, 26, 29, 98, 

170, 234, 235, 283, 284, 31S, 328, 329, 

331, 333. 33S. 336, 337, 343. 345- 
United States Supreme Court, 35, 166, 

203. 
United States troops, 129, 131, 202, 292, 

348. 
Upham, Gen. D. P., 51, 66, 70, 119, 120, 

121, 122, 124, 125, 127, 128, 130, 134, 

138, 139. 144. 290. 
Utah, 277. 

Van Buren, Ark., 18, 19, 66, 100, 300. 
Van Buren County, 305. 
Vance, Judge, 140. 
Vermont, 303. 

Virginia, 136, 268, 270, 282, 299, 303, 
315. 332. 

Wahl, Charles, 188, 189, 190. 
Waldron, Judge, 140. 
Walker, Governor, 270, 315, 332. 
Walker, Maj. Samuel, 62. 
Warwick, Judge, 84. 

Washington, D. C., 29, 32, 154, 191, 
256, 284, 333, 346, 348, 366. 



378 



INDEX 



Washington County, 22, 23, 66. Williams, Col. Willoughby, 29, 30, 31, 

Washington, George, 15. 35- 

Watson, E. L., 125. Willis, Lieut. H. F., 69, 99, 100, loi, 

Watson, Col. J. T., 126, 130, 133, 134, 102, 114. 

i37> 176. Wilshire, Judge W. W., 300, 313. 

Wells, A. C, 156, 160. Wilson, C. N., 175, 177. 

Wheeler, Edward, 333, 334. Wilson, John, 15, 16, 252. 

Wheeler, State Senator Stephen, 62, 70, Woodruff County, 51, 62, 66, 70, 119, 

79, 80, 84. 121, 123, 124, 125, 208, 209, 217, 291. 

Whipple, Col. W. G., 333, 334, 343- Woodruff, W. E., 364. 

White County, 58, 62, 66, 70, 74, 75, Wright, Senator, 336, 337, 338, 340, 342. 

76, "IT, 81, 82, 83, 84, 8s, 86, 87, 

349. Yahoos, 83, 87. 

White River, 66, 67, itg, 130, 216. Yankee, 135, 170, 303, 308, 359. 

White, Hon. Robert J. T., 28, 65, 299, Yell County, 66, 216. 

331, 332, 333- Yell, Governor, 252. 

Whytock, Judge John, 87, 348. Yonley, Judge T. D. W., 36, 37, 283, 

Williams, Captain, 154. 301. 



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